Diagnostic and molecular study of Entamoeba dispar in Nineveh Province, Iraq

Abstract

Amoebiasis is one of the important parasitic intestinal diseases that is widespread in mosul and all Iraq, responsible for many deaths, especially in children, caused by an elementary parasite Entamoeba histolytica, and there are other species of the genus Amoeba, which are not pathological, such as Entamoeba dispar., and because of the similarity between the two species in morphology, it has become necessary to use the accurate diagnosis of amoebiasis, this study was conducted for the period between October 2021 and until April 2022, included the examination of 96 stool samples from the patients in Nineveh Governorate hospitals and some private medical laboratories whose ages ranged from less than one year to 50 years and for both genders, during this study, microscopic and molecular diagnostic methods were used for two species of the genus Amoeba, as the microscopic examination was carried out using a direct wet smear to detect the stages of the trophozoite parasite, the cyst, or both. The study showed that there was an infection rate of 33.3%, with a rate of (32) of the stool samples diagnosed microscopically out of a total of 96 samples among the examined persons, while the results of using molecular diagnosis using polymerase chain reaction technology showed for 50 stool samples out of 96 samples (32 positive samples and 18 negative samples), the presence of amoeba infection was observed by 38%. In addition, two species of amoeba were diagnosed in the examined samples, the highest rate of infection was for Entamoeba histolytica, followed by Entamoeba dispar, at a rate of 52.63% and 47.36%, respectively. In addition, the Gene sequencer for the species E.dispar was performed. Which was isolated for the first time in Nineveh Governorate and registered in the National Center for Genetic Information with serial number 692812.