Kala-azar is a reticuloendothelial system disease caused by L. donovani, L. infantum and L. chagasi. The presentation of the disease may be with prolonged fever, abdominal distention, fatigue, anorexia, hepatosplenomegaly, leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, pneumonia and hepatitis. The conventional treatment of kala-azar consists of pentavalent antimony compounds. Because of the resistance to drugs, including antimony, and the side effects of antimony compounds, amphotericin B therapy is now being used. The mechanism of liposomal amphotericin B is phagocytosis of drug particles by the macrophages infected by leishmania amastigotes. Amphotericin B has higher affinity for episterol, the precursor of ergosterol, of the parasite cell membrane in macrophages than for cholesterol of the mammalian cell membrane. Thus its effect is selective. In our study, four cases diagnosed as kala-azar and treated successfully with short-term liposomal amphotericin B therapy are presented.

Keywords: kala-azar, lipozomal amfoterisin B, children, liposomal amphotericin B.