THE RELEVANCE OF MOLECULAR GENETIC METHODS IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF LARVAL HELMINTH INFECTIONS (DIROFILARIASIS, ECHINOCOCCOSIS)

Abstract

Larval helminth infections remain a serious medical and social economic problem in many countries of the world, and the Russian Federation is no exception in this respect. Methods of direct diagnostics require highly qualified laboratory specialists. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) can become an alternative to the method of morphological identification of helminths. We have selected and synthesized oligonucleotide primers based on known sequences of the species Dirofilaria repens and D. immitis; for E. granulosus; and for E. multilocularis. The sensitivity and specificity of the developed primers for D. repens and D. immitis has been confirmed in practice. We identified biological material from different biotopes from 2 patients. Both causative agents were identified as D. repens by two methods. To diagnose echinococcosis, we selected and synthesized 3 pairs of original specific primers for a fragment of the mtDNA-COI gene to detect Echinococcus spp. DNA; for E. granulosus and E. multilocularis. Based on the results of the performed work, an Application for an invention was executed and sent. The parallel application of two methods for the study of biological material minimizes diagnostic errors of larval helminth infections.