Genotypes of Giardia lamblia human isolates from Zahedan city, Southeastern Iran

This study provides the first data on the genotypes of Giardia lamblia which infected people in Zahedan, Southeastern Iran. Samples of stool were obtained from the people infected with giardia. Making use of glass beads, a commercial kit, as well as thawing and freezing methods, from the stool samples, DNA was extracted. Addition, utilizing the Semi-nested PCR, the 432bp fragment of glutamate dehydrogenase (gdh) locus was amplified. Using RsaI and BSPLI restriction enzymes, the RFLP-PCR (restriction fragment length polymorphism-polymerase chain reaction) was carried out to determine the genotypes of the samples infected with Giardia sp. PCR-RFLP demonstrated 77.5% of the isolates (n=62) as genotype All and15% of the isolates (n=12) as genotype BIII. In 7.5% of the isolates (n=6), the mixed genotype (BIII & AII) was identified. The findings of the present study demonstrated that genotype AII led to the majority of human infections in the studied area. According to the obtained results, giardia infection could have an anthroponotic origin in the city of Zahedan, Southeastern Iran.