AUTHOR=Basharat Nosheen , Khan Jadoon , Ullah Irfan , Shah Aamer Ali , Ali Ijaz 

TITLE=Genetic characterization of human echinococcosis in Southern Punjab, Pakistan

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2023.1141192

DOI=10.3389/fcimb.2023.1141192

ISSN=2235-2988

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Introduction</title><p>Echinococcosis is a neglected tropical zoonotic infection that affects both the human and livestock populations. In Pakistan, the infection is long-standing, but data on its molecular epidemiology and genotypic characterization in the southern Punjab region are limited. The aim of the current study was the molecular characterization of human echinococcosis in southern Punjab, Pakistan.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>Echinococcal cysts were obtained from a total of 28 surgically treated patients. Patients’ demographic characteristics were also recorded. The cyst samples were subjected to further processing to isolate DNA in order to probe the <italic>Nad1</italic> and <italic>Cyt-b</italic> genes, followed by DNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis for genotypic identification.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>The majority of the echinococcal cysts were from male patients (60.7%). The liver was the most commonly infected organ (60.71%), followed by the lungs (25%), spleen (7.14%), and the mesentery (7.14%). Molecular and genotypic identification through sequencing and phylogenetic tree analysis showed that most of the cysts (24/28, 85.7%) were caused by the species <italic>Echinococcus granulosus sensu stricto</italic> (<italic>E. granulosus s.s.</italic>) (G1 and G3), followed by <italic>Echinococcus multilocularis</italic> (<italic>E. multilocularis</italic>) and <italic>Echinococcus canadensis</italic> (<italic>E. canadensis</italic>) (G6/G7) (3/28, 10.8%, and 1/28, 3.5%, respectively).</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>The current study concluded that the majority of human infections were caused by <italic>E. granulosus s.s.</italic>, followed by the <italic>E. multilocularis</italic> and <italic>E. canadensis</italic> species (G6/G7). Genotypic characterization among both human and livestock populations is needed to explore the genetic diversity of echinococcosis.</p></sec>