Mechanism of altered lipid metabolism in Leishmania donovani infection and it 's implication in the disease pathogenesis

Leishmaniasis is a broad spectrum disease including visceral, cutaneous, mucocutaneous and post kala azar dermal forms. Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) caused by the obligate intracellular protozoan species Leishmania donovani (Ld)(Old World) and Leishmania infantum(Li)(New world) is the most fatal of all clinical manifestations (Murray, 2005). LD mainly affects Mediterranean countries and parts of Indian subcontinent,the worst victim being Bihar and parts of West Bengal. In Bihar alone, 44 million people of 28 districts and about 3.5 million people of West Bengal are at a risk of Kala azar (WHO, 1993). The most frightening part of the new incidences is that majority of the cases of Kala-azar have been reported to be unresponsive to antimonial therapy (Sundar, 2006). Sandfly vector responsible for transmission of leishmaniasis are divided in two genera: Phlebotomus in the Old World and Lutzomyia in the New World (Killick-Kendrick et al,1990). In India, Phlebotomus argentipes is the primary vector, but there are reports of P. papatasi as a secondary vector (Rassi et al, 2011). The parasite resides in spleen and liver leading to a condition known as hepatospleenomegaly characterised by the enlargement of spleen and liver with severe fever and weight loss (Reiner, 1982)