ABSTRACT
Aim: The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence and subtype distribution of Blastocystis and its relation with demographic data and symptoms in humans referred to medical centers in Ahvaz 2014-2015
Background: Infections with intestinal parasites are one of the most important threats to human health worldwide, especially in tropical and subtropical areas. Blastocystis sp. is a common parasite of humans with a vast variety of non-human hosts. We aimed to study the prevalence and subtypes of Blastocystis sp. in individuals referred to medical laboratories in Ahvaz city, southwest Iran
Methods: From September 2014 to September 2015, 618 stool samples were collected from 16 medical laboratories in Ahvaz, and examined using direct wet mount, formalin-ether concentration, a modified version of the Ziehl-Neelsen staining technique, and cultivation in xenic HSr + S medium. Subtypes of positive Blastocysts sp. were obtained using the "barcoding" method. The results were analyzed using SPSS software, version 16, with Chi-square and Fisher's exact test
Results: Totally, 325 [52.6%] of the referred individuals were men and 293 [47.4%] were women. Blastocystis sp. was observed in 146 [23.6%] samples. Co-infections with other intestinal parasites were found in 32 [5.17%] cases. Out of the 146 positive isolates, 20.83%, 20.83% and 58.34% belonged to ST1, ST2, ST3 respectively
Conclusion: Blastocystis sp. was quite common in the study population, with a carrier rate corresponding to nearly one in every four individuals. The subtype distribution identified in the present study was largely identical to that reported from other studies in Iran, with ST3 being the most common
ABSTRACT
Entamoeba moshkovskii and E. dispar are impossible to differentiate microscopically from the pathogenic species E. histolytica. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction [Multiplex PCR] is a widespread molecular biology technique for amplification of multiple targets in a single PCR experiment. For detection and differentiation of the three-microscopy indistinguishable Entamoeba species in human, multiplex PCR assay using different DNA extraction methods was studied. A conserved forward primer was derived from the middle of the small-subunit rRNA gene, and reverse primers were designed from signature sequences specific to each of these three Entamoeba species. A 166-bp PCR product with E. histolytica DNA, a 580-bp product with E. moshkovskii DNA and a 752-bp product with E. dispar DNA were generated in a single-round and multiplex PCR reaction. We recommend this PCR assay as an accurate, rapid, and effective diagnostic method for the detection and discrimination of these three Entamoeba species in both routine diagnosis of amoebiasis and epidemiological surveys