SUNY-ESF, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Environmental and Forest Biology, 1 Forestry Drive, Syracuse, New York 13210.
J Parasitol. 2024 Oct 1;110(5):440-444. doi: 10.1645/24-27.
Herein we describe a single nucleotide polymorphism-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay to rapidly detect and differentiate variants belonging to the European and North American lineages of Echinococcus multilocularis in clinical samples. This is an extremely relevant and applicable test in North America because the range of E. multilocularis continues to expand across the continent and because of a rise in prevalence in wildlife, domestic animals, and humans. The endemic North American (NA) and introduced European (EU) variants are believed to have different pathogenic potentials, with the EU variants being more infective and pathogenic than the NA variants. The rise of the EU variants of E. multilocularis increases the risk of spillover from wildlife to humans because of its increased potential for infectivity. Current PCR-based diagnostics can detect E. multilocularis deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), but DNA sequencing is required to identify the specific variant. Our assay provides a straightforward conventional PCR method to differentiate the NA and EU variants, and we suggest this same approach could be used for the diagnosis of other parasites or variants that are genetically very similar. As surveillance continues for E. multilocularis across North America, identifying the different genetic variants from different geographic regions will become essential to understanding the current epidemiological shift that the parasite is experiencing, as well as informing public health decisions in affected areas.
在此，我们描述了一种用于快速检测和区分临床样本中属于欧洲和北美的多房棘球绦虫（Echinococcus multilocularis）谱系的单核苷酸多态性特异性聚合酶链反应（PCR）检测方法。这是在北美的一项非常相关和适用的检测方法，因为多房棘球绦虫的分布范围继续在整个大陆上扩大，并且野生动物、家畜和人类中的流行率也在上升。据信，地方性北美（NA）和引入的欧洲（EU）变体具有不同的致病潜力，EU 变体比 NA 变体更具传染性和致病性。多房棘球绦虫 EU 变体的出现增加了野生动物向人类溢出的风险，因为其感染潜力增加。目前基于 PCR 的诊断方法可以检测多房棘球绦虫脱氧核糖核酸（DNA），但需要 DNA 测序来鉴定特定变体。我们的检测方法提供了一种简单的常规 PCR 方法来区分 NA 和 EU 变体，我们建议可以使用相同的方法来诊断其他具有非常相似遗传的寄生虫或变体。随着多房棘球绦虫在北美的监测继续进行，从不同地理区域鉴定不同的遗传变体将成为了解寄生虫所经历的当前流行病学转变以及为受影响地区提供公共卫生决策的关键。
