Transcriptome analysis of Dermal Fibroblasts from VL and PKDL patients reveal disease specific gene expression and pathological regulation

Post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis , a dermal form of the disease, occurs in some of the visceral leishmaniasis patients following treatment. Here we have studied the role of dermal fibroblasts which is an important component of skin in VL and PKDL disease mechanism. Dermal fibroblasts were grown from skin biopsy explants collected from individual VL, PKDL patients and healthy controls. Fibroblasts from third passage were subjected to RNA-Seq for analyzing differentially expressed genes. Transcriptome analysis of PKDL vs VL identified 516 DEGs - 263 were up-regulated and 253 were down-regulated in PKDL. In summary, this study provides an insight on the differential role of fibroblasts in the pathogenesis of VL and PKDL and may help in better disease management of PKDL and VL.