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. 2024 Aug 11;16(8):e66626.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.66626. eCollection 2024 Aug.

Incidence and Molecular Detection of Genotypes for Giardia lamblia Isolated From Children in Zakho District, Duhok Province, Kurdistan Region, Iraq

Ahmed Basheer Mohammed  1
Affiliations

Incidence and Molecular Detection of Genotypes for Giardia lamblia Isolated From Children in Zakho District, Duhok Province, Kurdistan Region, Iraq

Ahmed Basheer Mohammed. Cureus. .

Abstract

Giardia lamblia is a significant intestinal protozoan in humans worldwide, with a high incidence of infection in developing countries, particularly among children. Molecular analysis has identified eight assemblages (A to H), with A and B more frequently associated with human infections. Regardless of its importance, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first molecular study on assemblages in Giardia lamblia adopted in the Zakho district, province of Duhok, Iraq. The present study aimed to determine the giardiasis infection rate and identify the assemblages of Giardia lamblia in children from four areas in the Zakho district. We collected fecal samples and conducted a microscopic examination. Genomic DNA was extracted, and assemblage identification was done via amplification of the gdh gene using a semi-nested polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). Out of 31 Giardia-positive samples, 23 were successfully amplified through semi-nested PCR. Nineteen isolates (82.60%) were assigned to assemblage B, and four (17.40%) to assemblage A. Assemblage B was identified as belonging to sub-assemblages B11 and B1V, while assemblage A was identified as sub-assemblages A1 and A11. This study provides insights about Giardia lamblia assemblages in the Zakho district, Duhok province, Iraq, and may serve as a beginning step toward understanding the molecular characterization of Giardia in the studied area.

Keywords: children; giardia; infection rate; pcr-rflp; zakho.

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Conflict of interest statement

Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. General Hospital of Zakho Ethics Committee issued approval 700/3, August 11, 2021. Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Seminested PCR products of Giardia lamblia from a stool sample obtained with GDeF and GDiR primers on agarose gel (size 432 bp).
Lanes L1 to L14: sample number; L: DNA ladder (100–1000 bp).
Figure 2
Figure 2. RFLP analysis using the NlaIV restriction enzyme.
L represents the DNA ladder (100 bp); lanes 1, 2, and 4 correspond to sub-genotype AII (87 bp), while lane 7 corresponds to sub-genotype AI (146 bp). Lanes 3, 5, 6, 8, and 9 correspond to genotype B (428, 298 bp).
Figure 3
Figure 3. RFLP analysis using the RsaI restriction enzyme.
L represents the DNA ladder (100 bp); lanes 3 and 5 correspond to sub-genotype BIV (428 bp), while lanes 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 correspond to sub-genotype BIII (298 bp). Lane 13 corresponds to the negative control.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Percentage of sub-genotypes of G. lamblia determined by RFLP analysis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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