Development of allele-specific PCR methodology (AS-PCR) to screening A. lumbricoides and A. suum.

Ascaris lumbricoides and Ascaris suum are described as helminths that infect humans and pigs, respectively. It is estimated that infection by A. lumbricoides affects about 447 million individuals living in tropical regions of developing countries. However, there is an increasing number of cases of human ascariasis in countries with no recent history of autochthonous infection by A. lumbricoides. In these places, pigs have been incriminated as the main source of human infection. Conventional parasitological diagnosis does not allow species-specific identification, and the real epidemiological scenario of human and swine ascariasis is still uncertain. Therefore, this work presents the application of a species-specific molecular diagnosis, based on the allele-specific PCR methodology (AS-PCR), using the Internal Transcript Space 1 (ITS-1) of the ribosomal DNA, as a target for differentiating between the two species, using DNA obtained from eggs. To validate the methodology, stool samples positive for Ascaris spp, were obtained from 68 humans from seven Brazilian states and from six pigs from the state of Minas Gerais. All samples obtained from humans were genotyped as A. lumbricoides and all samples obtained from swine were genotyped as A. suum. These results are in agreement with the literature, which demonstrates that in most endemic regions, transmission cycles are separate. Therefore, the execution of this work allowed the availability of a useful methodology for the differential diagnosis of the species, which may contribute to the characterization of the real epidemiological profile of human and swine ascariasis, and to the implementation of future control strategies.