Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Braz J Infect Dis. 2012 Mar-Apr;16(2):184-7.
Malaria is one of the serious diseases threatening human health in Pakistan and contributes to a large proportion of the total malaria deaths in South Asia. However, little is known about the nature and extent of genetic diversity of the malarial parasites circulating in Pakistan. This study was designed to assess the infection status of Plasmodium and the genetic diversity of Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum by analyzing msp-3α, msp-3β and msp-1, msp-2 genes respectively using allele specific nested PCR and RFLP assays. For this purpose, 130 field isolates were collected from the individuals who exhibited clinical symptoms associated with malaria in the Kohat region of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa (KPK), Pakistan. Among 130 blood samples collected, P. vivax was detected in 105/130 (80.8%) and P. falciparum in 21/130 (16.2%). Mixed infections with both parasites were detected in 4/130 (3%) of the isolates. A large number of distinguishable alleles were found for msp genetic markers: 10 alleles for msp-3α and seven for msp-3β with one mixed infection in case of msp-3β. The genotyping of P. falciparum showed that K1+MAD20 mixed genotype was dominant in msp-1 and FC27 in msp-2. The results collectively suggest that P. vivax and P. falciparum populations in this region are highly polymorphic and mixed infections are prevalent.
疟疾是威胁巴基斯坦人类健康的严重疾病之一，也是南亚疟疾总死亡人数的主要原因之一。然而，人们对在巴基斯坦流行的疟原虫的性质和遗传多样性知之甚少。本研究旨在通过分析 msp-3α、msp-3β 和 msp-1、msp-2 基因，分别使用等位基因特异性嵌套 PCR 和 RFLP 分析，评估疟原虫的感染状况和间日疟原虫和恶性疟原虫的遗传多样性。为此，从巴基斯坦开伯尔-普赫图赫瓦省（KPK）科哈特地区出现与疟疾相关临床症状的个体中采集了 130 个现场分离株。在采集的 130 个血样中，105/130（80.8%）检测到间日疟原虫，21/130（16.2%）检测到恶性疟原虫。在 4/130（3%）的分离株中检测到两种寄生虫的混合感染。msp 遗传标记发现了大量可区分的等位基因：msp-3α 有 10 个等位基因，msp-3β 有 7 个等位基因，msp-3β 有一个混合感染。恶性疟原虫的基因分型显示，msp-1 中 K1+MAD20 混合基因型占优势，msp-2 中 FC27 占优势。结果表明，该地区间日疟原虫和恶性疟原虫种群高度多态性，混合感染普遍存在。
