Leishmania Life Cycle

Life Cycle

Promastigote enters skin of vertebrate host when infected sandfly takes its bloodmeal
Promastigote invades permissive host cell (e.g. macrophages, monocytes, and Langerhans cells)
Transforms into amastigotes
Amastigotes develops and multiplies in the phagocytic vacuole
Host cell bursts to release free amastigotes to infect other cells
Infected macrophages moves from the skin to other tissues
Amother sandfly consumes amastigoes with bloodmeal
Amastigotes are released into midgut of insect
Amastigotes transform into procyclics
Procyclics multiply in the petrirophic membrane in the insect midgut
Some escape to differentiate to nectomonads or haptomonads
Parasites differentiate into metacyclic forms
They are found in the anterior end of the midgut or in the mouthparts of the sandfly

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