Abstract
Giardia duodenalis, a unicellular, eukaryotic, and flagellated protozoan, presents two evolutionary forms in its life cycle, namely, trophozoites and cysts. It causes diarrhea in humans, dogs, cats, rodents, and ungulates. Despite being morphologically similar, the isolates of G. duodenalis are genetically diverse, affecting the stability and unanimity of taxonomic classification. Since different Giardia assemblages may occur within one isolate, multilocus genotyping is recommended for the genetic identification. To determine the frequency of G. duodenalis infections in domiciled dogs in Cuiabá Municipality (State of Mato Grosso, Midwestern Brazil) and characterize its genetic variability, fecal samples were collected from 147 dogs. Overall, 6.8% (10/147) of the samples presented cysts of G. duodenalis, which sequencing and genotypic characterization using tpi and gluD revealed assemblages C and A, genetic grouping of G. duodenalis. Only three samples amplified by tpi and one sample amplified by gluD. The risk factors age, gender, breed, diet and the presence of other dogs in the same house were not correlationated with giardiasis. The host-specific and zoonotic genotype warns of the risk of inter and intraspecies transmission and it provides, for the first time, information about genetic characterization of G. duodenalis isolates in dogs in Cuiabá, Midwest region of Brazil.
Highlights
Giardia duodenalis, a unicellular, eukaryotic, and flagellated protozoan, presents two evolutionary forms in its life cycle, namely, trophozoites and cysts
We evaluated the frequency of G. duodenalis infection in dogs in Cuiabá Municipality, Midwest Brazil
Among the 147 samples evaluated, G. duodenalis cysts were observed in 10 samples [6.8%; 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.3%–12.2%] (Figure 1)
Summary
A unicellular, eukaryotic, and flagellated protozoan, presents two evolutionary forms in its life cycle, namely, trophozoites and cysts. It causes diarrhea in humans, dogs, cats, rodents, and ungulates. Giardia intestinalis and Giardia lamblia) is one of the most important waterborne protozoan pathogens in both developed and developing countries, causing diarrhea in many different species around the world [1]. It is genotypically divided into various assemblages (A-H) of G. duodenalis which include the sub genotypes AI, AII, BIII, BIV [2]. Most infections are self-limiting [3], depending on the characteristics of the parasite (strain, number of cysts ingested, ability to adhere and cause tissue damage, and virulence factors) and host (immune and nutritional status, gastric juice pH, and intestinal microbiota) [5]
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