Molecular Biology and Malaria Immunology Research Group, Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Hospital Universitário Júlio Müller, Federal University of Mato Grosso, Cuiabá, Brazil.
Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2021 Sep 21;11:742681. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.742681. eCollection 2021.
Early diagnosis and treatment are fundamental to the control and elimination of malaria. In many endemic areas, routine diagnosis is primarily performed microscopically, although rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) provide a useful point-of-care tool. Most of the commercially available RDTs detect histidine-rich protein 2 (HRP2) of in the blood of infected individuals. Nonetheless, parasite isolates lacking the gene are relatively frequent in some endemic regions, thereby hampering the diagnosis of malaria using HRP2-based RDTs. To track the efficacy of RDTs in areas of the Brazilian Amazon, we assessed deletions in 132 P samples collected from four malaria-endemic states in Brazil. Our findings show low to moderate levels of deletion in different regions of the Brazilian Amazon. Overall, during the period covered by this study (2002-2020), we found that 10% of the isolates were characterized by a deletion. Notably, however, the presence of -negative isolates has not been translated into a reduction in RDT efficacy, which in part may be explained by the presence of polyclonal infections. A further important finding was the discrepancy in the proportion of deletions detected using two assessed protocols (conventional PCR nested PCR), which reinforces the need to perform a carefully planned laboratory workflow to assess gene deletion. This is the first study to perform a comprehensive analysis of PfHRP2 sequence diversity in Brazilian isolates of . We identified 10 PfHRP2 sequence patterns, which were found to be exclusive of each of the assessed regions. Despite the small number of PfHRP2 sequences available from South America, we found that the PfHRP2 sequences identified in Brazil and neighboring French Guiana show similar sequence patterns. Our findings highlight the importance of continuously monitoring the occurrence and spread of parasites with deletions, while also taking into account the limitations of PCR-based testing methods associated with accuracy and the complexity of infections.
早期诊断和治疗是控制和消除疟疾的基础。在许多流行地区,常规诊断主要通过显微镜进行,尽管快速诊断测试(RDT)提供了一种有用的即时检测工具。大多数市售的 RDT 检测感染个体血液中的富含组氨酸蛋白 2(HRP2)。然而,在一些流行地区,寄生虫分离株缺乏 HRP2 基因相对常见,从而阻碍了基于 HRP2 的 RDT 对疟疾的诊断。为了追踪巴西亚马逊地区 RDT 的效果,我们评估了从巴西四个疟疾流行州采集的 132 个 P 样本中的 HRP2 基因缺失情况。我们的研究结果显示,在巴西亚马逊地区的不同区域,缺失率较低至中等水平。总体而言,在本研究期间(2002-2020 年),我们发现 10%的 分离株具有 HRP2 基因缺失。然而,值得注意的是, -阴性分离株的存在并没有导致 RDT 效果降低,这在一定程度上可能是由于多克隆感染的存在。另一个重要发现是,两种评估方案(常规 PCR 巢式 PCR)检测到的缺失比例存在差异,这加强了需要进行精心规划的实验室工作流程以评估基因缺失的必要性。这是首次对巴西 分离株 PfHRP2 序列多样性进行全面分析的研究。我们确定了 10 种 PfHRP2 序列模式,这些模式在评估的各个区域均为特有。尽管来自南美洲的 PfHRP2 序列数量较少,但我们发现巴西和邻国法属圭亚那鉴定的 PfHRP2 序列具有相似的序列模式。我们的研究结果强调了不断监测具有 HRP2 基因缺失的寄生虫发生和传播的重要性,同时还需要考虑到与准确性和感染复杂性相关的 PCR 检测方法的局限性。