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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Clinical Infectious Diseases
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2025.1517046
This article is part of the Research Topic Advances in the Diagnosis and Management of Infectious Diseases View all 9 articles

Metagenomic next-generation sequencing assists in the diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis in non-endemic areas of China

Provisionally accepted
Rui Zhao Rui Zhao 1Guilun He Guilun He 2Lin Xiang Lin Xiang 2Melinda Ji Melinda Ji 3Rongheng He Rongheng He 1Xudong Wei Xudong Wei 1*
  • 1 Henan Provincial Cancer Hospital, Zhengzhou, China
  • 2 Nanjing Practice Medicine Diagnostics. CO. Ltd.Nanjing, 210001, Jiangsu, China., Nanjing, China
  • 3 Department of Translational Research and Cellular Therapeutics, City of Hope, 91010, California, United States., California, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Leishmaniasis, a protozoan disease caused by infection by Leishmania, is a critical issue in Asia, South America, East Africa, and North Africa. With 12 million cases globally, leishmaniasis is one of the most serious neglected tropical diseases worldwide. Direct identification of infected tissues is currently the primary method of diagnosis; however, the low sensitivity and inconvenience of microscopic examination in detecting amastigotes, parasitic manifestations of Leishmania, leads to the possibility of misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, and underdiagnosis. However, with the development of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) technology for pathogen identification, it is possible to detect specific nucleic acid sequences characteristic of Leishmania parasites, which opens new avenues for the more accurate diagnosis of leishmaniasis. In this study, we report two cases of leishmaniasis from Henan Province, China, in which Leishmania parasites were identified using mNGS technology, massively expediting diagnosis and treatment. Furthermore, our report demonstrates that the mNGS method is applicable to peripheral blood samples (PB), which are far more readily available in clinical settings, in addition to bone marrow aspirate samples (BM), which are traditionally used for diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis. Overall, our report validates the efficacy of mNGS technology as a rapid and accurate method of diagnosis for leishmaniasis.

    Keywords: Metagenomic next-generation sequencing assists, therapy, Leishmaniasis, endemic area, clinical diagnosis

    Received: 25 Oct 2024; Accepted: 13 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Zhao, He, Xiang, Ji, He and Wei. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Xudong Wei, Henan Provincial Cancer Hospital, Zhengzhou, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.