Distribution and molecular analysis of Blastocystis subtypes from gastrointestinal symptomatic and asymptomatic patients in Iran

Introduction: Blastocystis is a common intestinal parasite of human and animal hosts. The parasite has 17 subtypes, and among those at least nine subtypes (ST1-ST9) are found in human hosts. Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the presence of different subtypes of Blastocystis spp. among the patients referred to Velayat hospital of Qazvin province, Iran. Methods: Overall, 864 stool samples were examined by using formalin-ethyl acetate concentration method and Trichrome staining. All specimens were cultured in clotted fetal bovine medium. Later, DNA extraction and PCR amplification of 18S ribosomal RNA gene region was conducted and phylogenetic tree constructed. Results: The results revealed 7.9% (68/864) of the study population were infected with Blastocystis. Intestinal symptoms were observed in 61% (36/59) of individuals positive for Blastocystis, with abdominal pain in 58% (21/36) of cases which was more frequent than other intestinal signs. No significant relationship was observed among the study variables. By molecular and phylogenetic analysis, three subtypes ST1 (45%), ST2 (30%) and ST3 (23%) of parasite were identified. Conclusion: This study showed ST1 subtype was the predominant subtype among the positive specimens, meanwhile the highest haplotype and nucleotide diversity were clarified in ST3 subtype.