PCR diagnosis of infections with different species of Opisthorchiidae using a rapid clean-up procedure for stool samples and specific primers (original) (raw)

Abstract

Infections with the opisthorchiid liver flukes Clonorchis sinensis, Opisthorchis viverrini, and Opisthorchis felineus cause serious health problems in endemic areas of Southeast Asia and countries of the former Soviet Union. Chronic infections—even with low worm burdens—may lead to the development of fatal cholangiocarcinoma and related symptoms. A more sensitive diagnosis is needed since the tiny eggs of the worms are often not seen in microscopic examinations of stool samples, especially in patients with low infections. This communication reports a rapid cleanup procedure for human stool samples, which enables reliable identification of DNA by polymerase chain reaction from few eggs of opisthorchiid flukes in fecal samples.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Dr. Boris Romashov (Voronezh Biosphere Reserve, Grafskaya, Russia) for providing samples of O. felineus and P. truncatum. We thank Prof. Dr. Han-Jong Rim and Prof. Dr. IC Song (Department of Parasitology, Institute for Tropical Endemic Diseases, College of Medicine, Korea University) for kindly providing C. sinensis and host snails, and we also thank Sithithaworn (University of Khon Kaen, Faculty of Medicine, Thailand) for providing O. viverrini. Furthermore, we thank Prof. Dr. Rolf Schuster (Central Veterinary Research Laboratory, Dubai, United Arab Emirates) for helping in collecting samples and providing helpful comments. The study received financial support from the European Commission (TREMKIT ICA4-CT-2001-10080).

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Authors and Affiliations

1. Department of Zoomorphology, Cell Biology and Parasitology, Heinrich-Heine University Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany
   Boris Müller, Jürgen Schmidt & Heinz Mehlhorn

Authors

1. Boris Müller
2. Jürgen Schmidt
3. Heinz Mehlhorn

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Correspondence toHeinz Mehlhorn.

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Müller, B., Schmidt, J. & Mehlhorn, H. PCR diagnosis of infections with different species of Opisthorchiidae using a rapid clean-up procedure for stool samples and specific primers.Parasitol Res 100, 905–909 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-006-0321-x

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• Received: 16 August 2006
• Accepted: 22 August 2006
• Published: 24 October 2006
• Issue date: March 2007
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-006-0321-x

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