The undersigned agree to accept responsibilities for the scientific, ethical and technical conduct of the research project and for provision of required progress reports as per terms and conditions of the research and publication office of the University of Gondar

Abstract

Visceral leishmaniasis commonly known as kala-azar, is caused by Leishmania donovani and Leishmania infantum (Leishmania chagasi in the Americas). These Leishmania species infect macrophages throughout the viscera, and parasites are typically found in the spleen, liver, and bone marrow. Patients with active disease typically exhibit marked immunosuppression. The Majority of individuals with history of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) exhibit strong immunity to re-infection, however, the mechanism of resistance is poorly understood. It is unclear whether CD4+ and CD8+ T cells contribute to protection against Leishmania donovani infection through immune activation and cytotoxic activity. The general objective of this study was to assess the profile of CBC, CD4 and CD8 cell count before and after anti-leishmanial treatment in patients with VL at university of Gondar Referral Hospital, North West Ethiopia. A case control study was conducted among adult visceral leishmaniasis patients from February/2020 to June/2020.A total of 100 Patients with VL visiting University of Gondar Hospital during the study period were included in the study and 3ml of peripheral blood was collected. Complete blood cell count and Cluster of differcaition four and Cluster of differcaition eight count were performed by using Sysmex hematology analyzer and BD Accuri C6 flow cytometry software. Socio demographic data was collected and analyzed using spss. Patients with active VL have low hematological profile at the time of diagnosis and this was increased significantly after anti-leishmanial treatment. However, the CBC profiles were not restored to a similar level to the controls. CD4 and CD8 T cell count was significantly low at the time of diagnosis but increased after treatment. The result of this study shows that patients with active VL are pancytopenia and have low CD4, CD8 count which might play a role in disease severity and susceptibility to other opportunistic infections since visceral leshimaniasis is fatal disease, early diagnosis and treatment is mandatory with the help of health education for living peoples and migrant workers