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Background and purpose: Golestan Province is one of the endemic foci of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). This study aimed at assessing specific-PCR on Giemsa's stained slides for diagnosis of CL as well as detecting the species of Leishmania parasite in the patients referring to health center laboratory of Gonbad-e-Qabus. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in 2010. To diagnose the disease, direct smear (DS) from skin lesions were obtained and stained with Giemsa. If DS was negative, specific PCR on kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) extracted from direct smear would be used to identify the genus and species of Leishmania parasite. The data were analyzed using SPSS software. Results: Direct smear examination showed that out of 303 suspected patients, 238 (78.5%) were infected by CL. Furthermore, the PCR result was positive in 34 (52.3%) out of 65 smears which direct examination did not reveal Leishmania amastigotes. Using species-specific primers, Leishmania species isolated from all patients were Leishmania major. Conclusion: In most cases the DS is reported negative and it has a low sensitivity in contrast to PCR therefore, it is suggested that PCR method be used in suspected patients particularly in endemic regions because of its accurate diagnosis.

Keywords: Cutaneous leishmaniasis, specific -PCR, kDNA, Leishmania major

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