Centro de Investigación para la Salud en América Latina, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Av. 12 de octubre 1076, Apartado: 17-01-2184, Quito, Ecuador.
Ministerio de Salud Pública, Guayaquil, Ecuador.
Malar J. 2019 Jul 26;18(1):251. doi: 10.1186/s12936-019-2891-y.
Ecuador plans to eliminate malaria by 2020, and the country has already seen a decrease in the number of cases from more than 100,000 in 2000 to only 618 in 2015. Around 30% of malaria infections in Ecuador are caused by Plasmodium falciparum. Most malaria population genetics studies performed in Latin America, especially in the Pacific Coast, indicate a high clonality and a clear structure of P. falciparum populations. It was shown that an outbreak of P. falciparum in northwest Ecuador was the result of a clonal expansion of parasites circulating at low levels in the country or re-invading Ecuador from neighbouring territories. However, general characteristics of P. falciparum circulating in the northwest coast of Ecuador have not been determined. The main goal of this study was to genetically characterize the population structure of P. falciparum in coastal Ecuadorian localities bordering with Colombia.
Molecular investigation of 41 samples collected from 2013 to 2016 in San Lorenzo County, northwest Ecuador was performed using seven neutral microsatellite markers.
The genetic population structure of P. falciparum in northwest Ecuador is clearly defined as three different genetic groups previously reported in Ecuador, Peru and Colombia.
The limited number of P. falciparum clonal types that are circulating in northwest Ecuador, are related to ancestral parasite clonal lineages reported in the Pacific Coast. These parasites could be a product of migration from neighbouring regions or residual clonal types circulating in the country in low proportions. Studies of the genetic characterization of P. falciparum in eliminating areas help determine the possible origin of parasites in order to create strategies to prevent the entrance of new lineages and achieve local elimination of malaria.
厄瓜多尔计划在 2020 年消除疟疾，该国已看到病例数从 2000 年的超过 10 万例减少到 2015 年的 618 例。厄瓜多尔约 30%的疟疾感染由恶性疟原虫引起。在拉丁美洲进行的大多数疟疾种群遗传学研究，特别是在太平洋沿岸，表明恶性疟原虫种群具有高克隆性和明显的结构。事实表明，厄瓜多尔西北部的恶性疟原虫爆发是由于寄生虫在该国低水平循环的克隆性扩张，或者从邻国重新入侵厄瓜多尔。然而，尚未确定厄瓜多尔西北部恶性疟原虫循环的一般特征。本研究的主要目的是遗传表征与哥伦比亚接壤的厄瓜多尔沿海地区恶性疟原虫的种群结构。
对 2013 年至 2016 年在厄瓜多尔西北部圣洛伦索县采集的 41 个样本进行了分子调查，使用了 7 个中性微卫星标记。
厄瓜多尔西北部恶性疟原虫的遗传种群结构清晰地分为三个不同的遗传群体，这些群体之前在厄瓜多尔、秘鲁和哥伦比亚均有报道。
在厄瓜多尔西北部循环的恶性疟原虫有限的克隆类型与在太平洋沿岸报道的寄生虫祖先克隆谱系有关。这些寄生虫可能是从邻近地区迁徙而来的产物，或者是在该国低比例循环的残余克隆类型。在消除疟疾地区进行恶性疟原虫遗传特征研究有助于确定寄生虫的可能来源，以便制定预防新谱系进入和实现疟疾局部消除的策略。
