Comparison among three polymerase chain reaction assays on detection of DNA from Leishmania in biological samples from patients with american cutaneous leishmaniasis

introduction: the study analyzed positivity of polymerase chain reaction (pcr) on detection of dna from leishmania in patients' samples. methods: extracted dna was submitted to l150/l152, 13y/13z, and seminested pcr (snpcr). results: results were evidenced by bands of approximately 120, 720, and 670 bp for l150/l152, 13y/13z, and snpcr, respectively. l150/l152, 13y/13z, and snpcr positivity indexes were 76.9, 56.4, and 9.2 (p>0.05), respectively, for suspected and 93.7, 68.7, and 84.4 (p<0.05), respectively, for confirmed. conclusions: preliminary results showed that these assays, mainly l150/l152 and snpcr, can detect leishmania dna and carry potential on laboratory diagnosis of leishmaniasis.