en میکروب شناسی Microbiology <p style="text-align: justify;"><em><strong>Background:</strong></em> Leishmaniasis, especially cutaneous leishmaniasis, is considered an important health problem in many parts of Iran including Kharve, Khorasan Razavi province. Cutaneous leishmaniasis is caused by various species of <em>Leishmania</em>, each having a different secondary host. Thus, identifying the parasites&rsquo; specie is of paramount importance for containment strategy planning. The morphological differentiation of <em>Leishmania</em> species is not possible, rendering the molecular methods as the sole means to this purpose. Therefore, to identify the causative agent of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Kharve, Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA-PCR (RAPD-PCR) was used.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><em><strong>Methods:</strong></em> The disease was first confirmed by direct smears. Samples were gathered from 22 patients with established cutaneous leishmaniasis. The samples were immediately cultured in NNN medium, followed by sub-culture in RPMI-1640. Afterwards, DNA was extracted and amplified using RAPD-PCR. Electrophoresis patterns from each isolate were compared with reference strains of <em>Leishmania major (L. major) and Leishmania tropica (L. tropica)</em>.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><em><strong>Results:</strong></em> The results of this study indicated that the parasite causing cutaneous leishmaniasis in Kharve is <em>L. tropica</em>.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><em><strong>Conclusion:</strong></em> It seems that <em>L. tropica</em> is the only causative agent of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Kharve, and RAPD-PCR is a suitable tool for <em>Leishmania</em> characterization in epidemiological studies.</p> Kharve, Leishmania major, Leishmania tropica, RAPD-PCR, Khorasan 69 73 http://rbmb.net/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1-11&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Fatemeh Saadabadi 10031947532846005929 10031947532846005929 No Parasitology & Medical Mycology Department, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences Mashhad, Iran Masoud Mohajery 10031947532846005930 10031947532846005930 No Parasitology & Medical Mycology Department, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences Mashhad, Iran Elham Poostchi 10031947532846005931 10031947532846005931 No Parasitology & Medical Mycology Department, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences Mashhad, Iran Seyyed Ali Akbar Shamsian shamsianaa@mums.ac.ir 10031947532846005932 10031947532846005932 Yes Parasitology & Medical Mycology Department, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences Mashhad, Iran