title: Use of molecular tools to distinguish Entamoeba histolytica and Entamoeba dispar infection among the aborigines in Cameron Highlands.
abstract: Amoebiasis is an infectious diseased caused by parasitic one-celled protozoan called Entamoeba histolytica. Numerous protozoa also can inhabit the gastro-intestinal tract of human. Majority of these protozoa are non-pathogenic commensals or only causes disease under certain circumstances. Morphologically, E. histolytica, the invasive form, share the same characteristic with the nonpathogenic form, E. dispar. Both strains can be distinguished by using DNA identification. Many previous researches in Malaysia only reported infection with E. histolytica infection. Therefore in this study we tried to classify infection among the aborigines in Cameron Highland as true E. histolytica or E. dispar by Nested Polymerase Chain Reaction (Nested PCR) and Restriction enzyme (RE) digestion. Results showed that 31 samples were positive by microscopic examination, however of these 28 (13.2%) samples were positive for E. histolytica and 12 (5.6%) samples were positive for E. dispar by molecular tools.
authors.affiliation: Parasitology Unit, Infectious Diseases Research Centre, Institute for Medical Research, 50588, Kuala Lumpur.
authors.forename: M Y
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Noor Azian
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lokman Hakim
authors.forename: M N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Maslawaty
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004747:Entamoeba / Q000235:genetics*; D004748:Entamoeba histolytica / Q000235:genetics*; D004749:Entamoebiasis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008296:Malaysia; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods