Organisms

Leishmania

A genus of flagellate protozoa comprising several species that are pathogenic for humans. Organisms of this genus have an amastigote and a promastigote stage in their life cycles. As a result of enzymatic studies this single genus has been divided into two subgenera: Leishmania leishmania and Leishmania viannia. Species within the Leishmania leishmania subgenus include: L. aethiopica, L. arabica, L. donovani, L. enrietti, L. gerbilli, L. hertigi, L. infantum, L. major, L. mexicana, and L. tropica. The following species are those that compose the Leishmania viannia subgenus: L. braziliensis, L. guyanensis, L. lainsoni, L. naiffi, and L. shawi.

National Library of MedicineMedical Subject Headings2026

Structured Summary

Abstract

A genus of flagellate protozoa comprising several species that are pathogenic for humans. Organisms of this genus have an amastigote and a promastigote stage in their life cycles. As a result of enzymatic studies this single genus has been divided into two subgenera: Leishmania leishmania and Leishmania viannia. Species within the Leishmania leishmania subgenus include: L. aethiopica, L. arabica, L. donovani, L. enrietti, L. gerbilli, L. hertigi, L. infantum, L. major, L. mexicana, and L. tropica. The following species are those that compose the Leishmania viannia subgenus: L. braziliensis, L. guyanensis, L. lainsoni, L. naiffi, and L. shawi.

MeSH Record

Classification

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MeSH Record

See Also

MeSH Record

Synonyms

11 entry terms
  • Leishmanias
  • Leishmania (Leishmania)
  • Leishmania (Viannia)
  • Leishmania leishmania
  • Leishmania viannia
  • Leishmania leishmanias
  • Leishmania viannias
  • Leishmanias (Leishmania)
  • Leishmanias (Viannia)
  • leishmanias, Leishmania
  • viannias, Leishmania

MeSH Record

Aspects Covered

17 allowable subheadings

Indexed with the subheadings chemistry, classification, cytology, drug effects, enzymology, genetics, growth & development, immunology, isolation & purification, metabolism, microbiology, parasitology, pathogenicity, physiology, radiation effects, ultrastructure, virology.

MeSH Record

Indexing Annotation

infection = LEISHMANIASIS or its specifics; coordinate with specific protozoan terms (ANTIGENS, PROTOZOAN, etc) if pertinent; a virus infecting Leishmania is named LEISHMANIAVIRUS: see note there

MeSH Hierarchy

Tree Number

  1. B01w.268.475.868.488w

MeSH Record

NLM Classification

QW 243

AMA Style

References

  1. National Library of Medicine. Leishmania. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). 2026. Unique ID D007891. http://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/2026/D007891
  2. Leishmania. In: Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leishmania
  3. Leishmania. In: Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q524818