Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of PCR and real-time PCR for the diagnosis of human visceral leishmaniasis using peripheral blood samples. Methods: DNA extraction was performed using Promega Wizard襅 Genomic kits. PCR employing RV1/RV2 primers yielded 1 45-bp amplicons. Real-time PCR was performed with the same primers and SYBR Green ROX Plus mix. These techniques were used to analyze 100 peripheral blood samples from patients with clinical signs of the disease. Results: The sensitivity and specificity levels were 91,3%% and 29,6%, respectively, for real-time PCR and 97.78% and 61.82%, respectively, for PCR. Conclusions: Realtime PCR proved to be a satisfactory method for the diagnosis of human visceral leishmaniasis.

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