NRAMP1 Gene Polymorphism and Susceptibility to Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Iraq

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a vector-borne disease and endemic in most regions of Iraq, especially in the regions with poor populations. Natural resistance associated macrophage protein 1 (NRAMP1) gene plays an essential role in susceptibility to CL and disease pathology. This study aimed to study the polymorphism in NRAMP1 gene, and tried to identify an association between gene variants and susceptibility to CL infection in Iraqi population / AL-Muthanna province. Samples of peripheral blood were collected from 60 patients with CL and 32 apparently healthy controls. NRAMP1 (D543N) polymorphism was detected in patients and control groups by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique. The results indicated a statistically significant difference in genotype distribution between CL cases and healthy controls (p = 0.036), and the results indicated that genetic variations of D543N were not associated with susceptibility to CL infection, and the frequency of allele A was greater in controls than in patients with statistical significance of p = 0.01.