title: Cryptosporidium hominis infection diagnosed by real-time PCR-RFLP.
abstract: There are approximately 20 known species of the genus Cryptosporidium, and among these, 8 infect immunocompetent or immunocompromised humans. C. hominis and C. parvum most commonly infect humans. Differentiating between them is important for evaluating potential sources of infection. We report here the development of a simple and accurate real-time PCR-based restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) method to distinguish between C. parvum and C. hominis. Using the CP2 gene as the target, we found that both Cryptosporidium species yielded 224 bp products. In the subsequent RFLP method using TaqI, 2 bands (99 and 125 bp) specific to C. hominis were detected. Using this method, we detected C. hominis infection in 1 of 21 patients with diarrhea, suggesting that this method could facilitate the detection of C. hominis infections.
authors.affiliation: Department of Malaria and Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Health, Chungcheongbuk-do 363-951, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyeng-Il
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Cheun
authors.forename: Kyungjin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sejoung
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: Won-Ja
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Woo-Yoon
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Seobo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sim
authors.forename: Jae-Ran
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D003457:Cryptosporidiosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000469:parasitology*; D003458:Cryptosporidium / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
keywords: Cryptosporidium hominis; Cryptosporidium parvum; RFLP; TaqI; real-time PCR