PMID: 18717268Aug 23, 2008Paper

Epidemiologic and molecular study of Entamoeba histolytica and Entamoeba dispar strains in pacients with diarrhea in Cumana, Sucre state, Venezuela

Investigación clínica
Leonor MoraHaideé Urdaneta

Abstract

An epidemiological and molecular study on E. histolytica and E. dispar was carried out in 428 patients with gastrointestinal symptomatology of diarrhea from different health centers in Cumana, Sucre state. The samples were processed through: direct examination with 0.85% physiological saline solution, temporal lugol staining, trichromic staining and the Ritchie method of concentration; a sucrose gradient was used for cyst isolation. The small subunit of the 16S RNA was amplified by nested, multiplex PCR for the molecular detection. The E. histolytica/E. dispar prevalences according to the direct, Ritchie and trichromic staining methods were 20.09, 13.79 and 12.15%, respectively; while prevalences according to PCR for E. histolytica and E. dispar were 6.31% and 4.44%, respectively, also detecting four cases of mixed infection. Sequencing of the amplified fragments of E. histolytica showed 100% homology with the sequences with strains from Merida (Venezuela), USA, Brazil, Mexico and GenBank. The infections by E. histolytica and E. dispar were statistically associated with age but not with sex. The presence of mucus, blood and abdominal pain were only associated to E. histolytica infection. The moderate prevalence of E. histolytic...Continue Reading

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