Parasitology
Mandana Hoseini; Fateme Jalousian; Seyed Hosein Hoseini; Abbas Gerami Sadeghian
Volume 11, Issue 2 , June 2020, , Pages 185-190
Abstract
Iran is one of the endemic areas of Dirofilariasis, and also one of the most important zoonotic infections. Dirofilaria immitis causes a severe and fatal disease called heartworm disease in dog. It also produces pulmonary nodules in humans. The worm is to be investigated as a potential infection of humans ...
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Iran is one of the endemic areas of Dirofilariasis, and also one of the most important zoonotic infections. Dirofilaria immitis causes a severe and fatal disease called heartworm disease in dog. It also produces pulmonary nodules in humans. The worm is to be investigated as a potential infection of humans and animals in various provinces in Iran. In this research, the samples were studied with modified Knott and molecular methods. The results of the modified Knott method indicated that 14.00% of sheepdogs were infected with filarial microfiler. The microfilers were characterized with basic morphological features, the length of the infective larva and tail ending. There was an estimated prevalence of 4.45% for Dirofilaria immitis and 9.55% for Acanthocheilonema reconditum microfiler. To verify the differential diagnosis, molecular method was performed using PCR with Dirofilaria specific primers for amplification of ITS2 locus. Gene locus sequencing results of D. immitis and sequence alignment recorded in GeneBank showed 97.00% similarity, and relatively 98.00% similarity was observed in A.reconditum. The results of the molecular method confirmed the result of modified Knott method. Low infection with D. immitis was observed the region, probably due to the fact that the annual temperature and precipitation in this area were not suitable for the proliferation of the vector mosquitoes. In general, there was less infection in the region compared to regions with relatively similar climatic conditions. Hence, the results suggested that alternative diagnostic tests are required to determine the occult infections.
Parasitology
Zabiholah Zarei; Eshrat Beigom Kia; Zahra Heidari; Fattaneh Mikaeili; Mehdi Mohebali; Meysam Sharifdini
Volume 7, Issue 4 , December 2016, , Pages 329-334
Abstract
Dirofilaria immitis is an important filarial nematode in dogs. In this study, age and sex distribution of this zoonotic nematode among dogs were investigated in northwest of Iran in Meshkin-Shahr city. Molecular characteristics of the isolates, based on cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COX1) gene were compared ...
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Dirofilaria immitis is an important filarial nematode in dogs. In this study, age and sex distribution of this zoonotic nematode among dogs were investigated in northwest of Iran in Meshkin-Shahr city. Molecular characteristics of the isolates, based on cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COX1) gene were compared to the isolates from other areas of the world.Blood samples were collected from 91 dogs which were selected by simple classified accidental sampling. Thin and thick blood smear examinations were used to find out infectivity with D. immitis. DNA extraction was performed from adult D. immitis recovered from heart of infected dogs. The COX1 gene was amplified and sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis was carried out using sequences obtained in this study along with relevant sequences deposited in the GenBank. Phylogenetic analysis and sequence variation was performed using MEGA software in comparison with those COX1 sequences deposited in GenBank. Out of 91 dogs, 19 (20.87%) were found positive for infection with D. immitis. There was no statistically significant difference between males and females of dogs in terms of D. immitis infection. However, the rate of infection in dogs more than 2 years old was significantly higher than those with lower age. Both sequences analyzed in this study showed 100% homology to each other. Intra-species variation of these isolates with those from other areas of the world amounted to 0 to 0.50%. Phylogenetic analysis of the COX1 gene suggested that it is conserved, and can be used for study on genetic diversity and classification of filarial nematodes.
Farhad Farhang-Pajuh; Mohammad Yakhchali; Karim Mardani
Volume 5, Issue 3 , July 2014, , Pages 181-186
Abstract
Sarcocystis is one of the most prevalent parasites of domestic ruminants worldwide. This study was aimed to determine prevalence of Sarcocystis infection and molecular discrimination of Sarcocystis gigantea and Sarcocystis medusiformis infecting domestic sheep. Tissue samples from 638 sheep slaughtered ...
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Sarcocystis is one of the most prevalent parasites of domestic ruminants worldwide. This study was aimed to determine prevalence of Sarcocystis infection and molecular discrimination of Sarcocystis gigantea and Sarcocystis medusiformis infecting domestic sheep. Tissue samples from 638 sheep slaughtered at Urmia abattoir were randomly collected from February 2011 to January 2012. Genomic DNA extraction and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to amplify a 964 bp fragment of nuclear 18S rRNA gene. The PCR products were subjected to digestion with endonuclease MboII and/or MvaI for discriminating S. medusiformis and S. gigantea. Results indicated that the overall prevalence of Sarcocystis unspecified species was 36.83% (235/638) in which male (7.63%, 38/498) and female (35.00%, 49/140) sheep over 4 years-old had the highest prevalence. There was no significant difference between prevalence of macrosarcocysts and sex. Two macrosarcocysts forms were found as fat (27.90%, 178/638) and thin (8.93%, 57/638) in striated muscles. There was significant difference between frequency of macrosarcocysts and body distribution. Mixed infection with both fat and thin macrosarcocysts was also found in 11.13% (71/638) of infected sheep. There was no significant difference regarding the prevalence of mixed infection in both age classes. The PCR-RFLP patterns showed that fat sarcocysts were S. gigantea (29.31%, 187/638) and thin sarcocysts were S. medusiformis (7.52%, 48/638). It was concluded that ovine Sarcocystis infection was prevalent in Urmia and a combination of conventional methods and molecular study for sheep sarcocysts could be informative.
