IMMUNOPEROXIDASE TECHNIQUE USING AN ANTI-Leishmania (L.) chagasi HYPERIMMUNE SERUM IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF CULTURE-CONFIRMED AMERICAN TEGUMENTARY LEISHMANIASIS

The present study reports the production of the rabbit anti-Leishmania (L.) chagasi hyperimmune serum, the standardization of the immunohistochemistry (IHC) technique and the evaluation of its employment in cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) lesions diagnosed by Leishmania sp. culture isolation. Thirty fragments of active CL lesions were examined as well as 10 fragments of cutaneous mycosis lesions as control group. IHC proved more sensitive in detecting amastigotes than conventional hematoxylin-eosin (HE) stained slides: the former was positive in 24 (80%) biopsies whereas the latter, in 16 (53%) (p = 0.028). The reaction stained different fungus species causing cutaneous mycosis. Besides, positive reaction was noticed in mononuclear and endothelial cells. Nevertheless, this finding was present in the control group biopsies. It is concluded that IHC showed good sensitivity in detecting amastigotes.