¹University of Manisa Celal Bayar, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Parasitology, TR-45030 Yunusemre, Manisa - TÜRKİYE DOI : 10.9775/kvfd.2026.36908 Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a significant public health problem caused by parasites of the genus Leishmania. Experimental animal models developed for cutaneous leishmaniasis are of great importance for understanding the disease process, the mechanisms of disease development, and evaluating treatment approaches. The aim of our study was to compare lesion development and the clinical course of infection in experimental cutaneous leishmaniasis models created in BALB/c mice using promastigote and amastigote forms of Leishmania major. The promastigote form of L. major was cultured in NNN and RPMI-1640 media. The amastigote form was previously obtained from the THP-1 cell line and stored by cryopreservation. The parasite forms were applied intradermally to the right foot of the experimental animals. The experimental animals were treated with 10⁵ promastigote/mL, 10⁵ amastigote/mL, and sterile saline. Lesion development was monitored weekly for 12 weeks. Lesion development was assessed by measuring footpad thickness. Infection was successfully induced in both groups. After 12 weeks, the average footpad thickness was 3.32 mm in the amastigote group and 2.33 mm in the promastigote group. Amastigotes were observed in Giemsa-stained touch preparations, and promastigotes were found to grow from the lesions in inoculation onto NNN medium. The findings of this study demonstrate that the experimental cutaneous leishmaniasis model created with the amastigote form is reliable and applicable, allowing faster results in therapeutic and immunological studies. Keywords : Amastigote, Cutaneous leishmaniasis, Experimental model, Leishmania major, Promastigote