Background: Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a common parasitic disease and one of the health problems world wide. The pentavalent antimonial drugs (e.g. pentostam and Glucantime) are the first line treatment for leishmaniasis, and resistance to these drugs is a serious problem. Using PCR method, this study was carried out to identify the mutation for sodium stibogluconate resistance gene in cutaneous leishmaniasis cases referred to different health centers during 2006-8.

Materials and Methods: This descriptive study was conducted on 150 isolates of leishmania major and leishmania tropica to identify the mutation in drug resistance gene. Promastigote clones were cultured in enriched RPMI 1640 medium and then the genomic DNA was isolated and using a pair of primers, a 400 bp of the gene was amplified. Finally, the PCR products were screened by conformation sensitive gel electrophoresis (CSGE) method and then the mutation was confirmed using RFLP with Sdu1 enzyme.

Results: Screening using CSGE and RFLP methods showed that 6.3% of the samples carried a mutation for drug resistance gene.

Conclusion: Results showed a resistance for cutaneous leishmania against sodium stibogluconate. Further studies are required to determine the biochemical mechanism of this resistance.