Identification of hydatid cysts and concomitant liver enzyme dysfunction in patients from Al-Najaf and Al-Diwaniyah City by conventional and phylogenetic methods

Abstract

Hydatid cyst infection is a serious disease that affects humans who come into touch with the infective stage of the tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus, which is found all over the world. The current study used patient physical and laboratory examinations, X-ray imaging, ultrasonic inspection, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to identify hydatid cyst presence in patients from the Iraqi cities of Al-Najaf and Al-Diwaniyah and to identify hydatid cysts and concomitant liver enzyme dysfunction in patients from the Iraqi cities of Al-Najaf and AlDiwaniyah using conventional and phylogeny. Both strategies used partial gene sequencing (PGS) to target the E. granulosus antigen subunit B2 (EgB2) gene. The findings revealed an abdominal lump (6-7cm, left costal border), leukocytosis (12103/mm3), eosinophilia (84101/mm3), and an increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) (35mm/hr), ultrasonic-detected splenic and liver cysts, and increased levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALP)= Mean standard error (MSE) (170.12.3 IU/l), Patients with such changes were then given surgical interventions to diagnose and remove cysts, which were identified as hydatid cysts (wheel-like, "rosette-like," or "honeycomb-like" cysts with cystic cavity-based "snowflakes" like protoscoleces, wavy or serpentine-like cystic membranes of punctured or solid-pseudotumor ball-like calcified degenerated cysts, respectively). The existence of hydatid cysts from the E. granulosus tapeworm was discovered by PCR. The PGS validated the results of the previous tests, yielding three nucleotide-sequence-based isolates that were identical to those from Brazil (bovine), Argentina (camelid), and Bengal (buffalo). The study found hydatid cyst infection in human patients in the Iraqi cities of Al-Najaf and Al-Diwaniyah, implying the presence of the adult form of the worm, Echinococcus granulosus tapeworms, in dogs in these areas. Keywords: Echinococcus granulosus, EgB2 gene, hydatid cysts.