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Predominance of subtype 3 among Blastocystis isolates from a major hospital in Singapore

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Abstract

Blastocystis is an enteric protozoan parasite commonly found in humans and animals. Phylogenetic and genotypic analyses have shown that Blastocystis exhibits extreme genetic diversity, and humans are host to a number of zoonotic isolates. In the present study, the prevalence of Blastocystis in 276 stool samples from a hospital in Singapore was examined, and for the first time, riboprinting using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was used to determine the genetic diversity of the Blastocystis isolated from the Singapore population. The prevalence rate was determined to be 3.3% (9/276), and Blastocystis displaying two main ribotypes were isolated. As a comparison, we performed PCR-RFLP using two different published methodologies, and both methods allowed the isolates to be divided into two distinct groups based on their riboprint patterns. According to a recently proposed classification scheme, 78% (7/9) of the isolates were of subtype 3, while 22% (2/9) were subtype 1. The predominance of subtype 3 in an urbanized city state such as Singapore is in agreement with the idea that subtype 3 is a genotype of human origin.

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Acknowledgements:

This work was generously supported by a grant from the Medical Research Council (NMRC/1071/2006). We are grateful to all the staff of the Microbiology Division of the Department of Laboratory Medicine, NUH for their help and advice in procuring the samples. We are also grateful to Mr Elden Kua and Ms Kang Kim Lian for their help during the early stages of this project. The experiments conducted were carried out in compliance with the laws and regulations of Singapore.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Parasitology, National University of Singapore, Singapore 5 Science Drive 2, Singapore, 117597, Singapore

    Kenneth H. S. Wong, G. C. Ng & Kevin S. W. Tan

  2. Department of Microbiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 5 Science Drive 2, Singapore, 117597, Singapore

    Kenneth H. S. Wong, G. C. Ng, Mark B. Taylor & Kevin S. W. Tan

  3. Department of Laboratory Medicine, National University Hospital, 5 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore, 119074, Singapore

    Raymond T. P. Lin

  4. Department of Biological Science, Faculty of Science, Nara Women’s University, Kitauoya-Nishimachi, 630-8506, Nara, Japan

    H. Yoshikawa

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  1. Kenneth H. S. Wong
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  2. G. C. Ng
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  3. Raymond T. P. Lin
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  4. H. Yoshikawa
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  6. Kevin S. W. Tan
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Correspondence to Kevin S. W. Tan.

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Wong, K.H.S., Ng, G.C., Lin, R.T.P. et al. Predominance of subtype 3 among Blastocystis isolates from a major hospital in Singapore. Parasitol Res 102, 663–670 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-007-0808-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-007-0808-0

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