The purpose of this study is to define the proportion of low and high expression Mif alleles in individuals with recurrent or chronic Cutaneous Leishmaniasis and compare it with that of individuals with asymptomatic infection and healthy donors (controls), in order to determine if these alleles are associated with outcome of infection.

This study is part 2 of a project that includes DMID protocols 05-0139 and 06-0010. Specific objectives are to:

determine the proportion of low expression (5-CATT) Mif alleles in individuals with recurrent or chronic cutaneous leishmaniasis, healthy donors (controls), and individuals with asymptomatic infection; determine the proportion of high expression (6,7,8-CATT) Mif alleles in individuals with recurrent or chronic cutaneous leishmaniasis, healthy donors (controls), and individuals with asymptomatic infection; and determine the Mif Genotype repertoire and frequency distribution in the endemic population of study. This study will be conducted in 472 participants who will be enrolled into one of the following 4 groups: recurrent disease, chronic disease, asymptomatic infection, and healthy donors (controls). Patients (males and females) aged between 7-70 years with chronic or recurrent cutaneous leishmaniasis (historic or active) diagnosed in either Cali (CIDEIM) and Tumaco (San Andrés Hospital) on the Colombian Pacific Coast will be invited to participate in the study. Asymptomatic and healthy donors (controls) will also be enrolled. Pregnant women will not be enrolled. Consent and samples will be obtained during a single study visit of up to 1.5 hours. No further follow-up visits are planned for this study. Genetic material extracted and amplified from buccal swabs will be used to determine the proportion of low and high expression Mif alleles of each group. Expression in recurrent and chronic participants will be compared to that of asymptomatic participants and healthy donors (controls) in order to determine if expression frequencies are related to the outcome of infection. Blood samples obtained from asymptomatic and healthy donors will undergo in vitro blastogenesis testing to confirm asymptomatic/healthy donor status. Study outcome measures are: frequency of low expression (5-CATT) Mif alleles in participants with recurrent or chronic disease, individuals with asymptomatic infection and healthy donors (controls); frequency of high expression (6,7,8-CATT) Mif alleles in participants with recurrent or chronic disease individuals with asymptomatic infection and healthy donors (controls); and Mif Genotype repertoire and frequency distribution in the endemic population in the study site.