Genotypic characteristics of hydatid cysts isolated from humans in East Azerbaijan Province (2011-2013)

Introduction: Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is one of the important helminthic diseases of human and animals, which causes by Echinococcus granulosus. Canids are its definite and grazers especially sheep, and cattle, and also wild herbivores are its intermediate hosts. Human can also be accidentally infected by a parasite. This study aimed to investigate genotypes of the hydatid cysts isolated from hydatidosis patients in order to confine the source of the infection, 2013. Methods: In this cross-sectional study 55 paraffin blocks of identified hydatid cysts have been undergone genotyping using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique. The ITS1 region of rDNA has been amplified using BD1 forward and 4s reverse primers. PCR products have been digested using HpaII and RsaI restriction endonucleases. RFLP products studied using gel electrophoresis. Data were analyzed using SPSS for Windows using the chi-square test. Results: About 29 (52.72%), 16 (29.1%), 3 (5.45%), 3 (5.45%), 1 (1.81%), 1 (1.81%), 1 (1.81%) and 1 (1.81%) out of 55 hydatid cysts were located in lung, liver, spleen, kidney, heart, pancreas, brain, and femore, respectively. The frequency of hydatidosis observed higher in patients from rural areas (P = 0.013; odds ratio = 0.599; 95% confidence interval: 0.28, 1.27). Based on RFLP results, the entire studied hydatid cysts identified as sheep strain (G1). Conclusion: According to the results of the present observation, it can be concluded that the majority of cases of human hydatidosis in East Azerbaijan Province are caused by sheep strain (G1) of E. granulosus, which indicates the sheep-doge cycle in the studied area.