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Introduction: Blastocystis is a common intestinal parasite of human and animal hosts. The parasite has 17 subtypes, and among those at least nine subtypes (ST1-ST9) are found in human hosts., Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the presence of different subtypes of Blastocystis spp. among the patients referred to Velayat hospital of Qazvin province, Iran., Methods: Overall, 864 stool samples were examined by using formalin-ethyl acetate concentration method and Trichrome staining. All specimens were cultured in clotted fetal bovine medium. Later, DNA extraction and PCR amplification of 18S ribosomal RNA gene region was conducted and phylogenetic tree constructed., Results: The results revealed 7.9% (68/864) of the study population were infected with Blastocystis . Intestinal symptoms were observed in 61% (36/59) of individuals positive for Blastocystis , with abdominal pain in 58% (21/36) of cases which was more frequent than other intestinal signs. No significant relationship was observed among the study variables. By molecular and phylogenetic analysis, three subtypes ST1 (45%), ST2 (30%) and ST3 (23%) of parasite were identified., Conclusion: This study showed ST1 subtype was the predominant subtype among the positive specimens, meanwhile the highest haplotype and nucleotide diversity were clarified in ST3 subtype., (© 2020 Delshad A et al.)

Introduction: Hymenolepis nana is a zoonotic tapeworm with widespread distribution. The goal of the present study was to identify the parasite in the specimens collected from NorthWestern regions of Iran using PCR-sequencing method., Methods: A total of 1521 stool samples were collected from the study individuals. Initially, the identification of hymenolepis nana was confirmed by parasitological method including direct wet-mount and formalin-ethyl acetate concentration methods. Afterward, PCR-sequencing analysis of ribosomal ITS2 fragment was targeted to investigate the molecular identification of the parasite., Results: Overall, 0.65% (10/1521) of the isolates were contaminated with H. nana in formalin-ethyl acetate concentration. All ten isolates were succefully amplified by PCR and further sequenced. The determined sequences were deposited in GenBank under the accession numbers MH337810 -MH337819., Conclusion: Our results clarified the presence of H. nana among the patients in the study areas. In addition, the molecular technique could be accessible when the human eggs are the only sources available to identify and diagnose the parasite.