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Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is one of the most important infectious parasitic diseases in the world caused by the Leishmania parasite. In recent decades, the presence of a virus from the Totiviridae family has been proven in some Leishmania species. Although the existence of LRV2 in the Old world Leishmania species has been confirmed, almost no studies have been done to determine the potential impact of LRV2 on the immunopathogenicity of the Leishmania parasite. In this preliminary study, we measured the expression of target genes, including Glycoprotein 63 (gp63), Heat Shock Protein 70 (hsp70), Cysteine Protease b (cpb), Interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), IL8 and IL-12 in LRV2 positive Leishmania major strain (LRV2+ L. major) and LRV2 negative L. major strain (LRV2- L. major). We exposed THP-1, a human leukemia monocytic cell line, to promastigotes of both strains. After the initial infection, RNA was extracted at different time points, and the relative gene expression was determined using a real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Findings showed that the presence of LRV2 in L. major was able to increase the expression of gp63, hsp70, and cpb genes; also, we observed lower levels of expression in cytokine genes of IL-1β, IL-8, IL-12 in the presence of LRV2+, which are critical factors in the host's immune response against leishmaniasis. These changes could suggest that the presence of LRV2 in L. major parasite may change the outcome of the disease and increase the probability of Leishmania survival; nevertheless, further studies are needed to confirm our results. • The presence of LRV2 in L. major parasite could increase the expression levels of GP63, HSP70, and CPb genes. • The expression of IL-1β, IL-8, and IL-12 genes was decreased in macrophage infected with LRV2+ L. major strain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Differential gene expression in resistant and sensitive L. tropica by cDNA-AFLP. [•] The expression of detected genes was confirmed using real time RT-PCR. [•] MRPA, PTP and PGK genes were upregulated in resistant isolate (P value <0.05). [•] AQP1 and MAPK genes were downregulated in resistant isolate (P value <0.05). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]