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Background: Regarding hydatid cyst (cystic echinococcosis, CE) as a human public health problem in the West of Iran, molecular data related to the genotypes of Echinococcus granulosus in cattle and sheep in these regions are still insufficient. Here, we evaluated the genotypes of E. granulosus infecting sheep and cattle in western Iran., Methods: Totally, 36 hydatid cysts including 18 hydatid cysts of sheep and 18 hydatid cysts of cattle were collected from Khorramabad slaughterhouse (Lorestan Province), Western Iran between May to September 2014. Protoscoleces or germinal layers were collected from individual cysts, DNA was extracted, and genotyping was performed by sequencing and analyzing mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 ( cox 1) gene., Results: In sequencing analysis, all of sheep isolates belonged to genotype G1 (sheep strain). Among cattle hydatid cyst isolates, 16/18 (88.9%) were belonged to genotype G1 and 2/18 (11.1%) were belonged to G3 genotype. The phylogenetic analysis showed two clusters; one of the clusters includes cattle G3 genotype and the other cluster represents sheep and cattle G1 genotype that were isolated., Conclusion: The common sheep strain/G1 is predominant genotype in the western part of Iran, followed by G3 genotype, circulating among the animal hosts in this region. Further studies covering a larger number of isolates might be necessary to see if there are other genotypes in the hydatid cyst population in this region of Iran., Competing Interests: Declaration of Interest The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Background: This investigation aimed to evaluate the in vitro scolicidal effects of Pistacia khinjuk methanolic extract against protoscoleces of hydatid cysts and its acute toxicity in mice NMRI model., Methods: Protoscoleces were aseptically extracted from sheep livers having hydatid cysts. Various concentrations of the essential oil (12.5-100 mg/mL) were used for 10 to 60 min. Viability of protoscoleces was confirmed using eosin exclusion test (0.1% eosin staining). Twenty-four male NMRI mice were used to assess the acute toxicity of P. khinjuk., Results: P. khinjuk extract at the concentrations of 100 mg/mL after 10 min of exposure killed 100% of protoscoleces. Similarly, the mean of mortality rate of protoscoleces after 20 min of exposure to the concentration of 50 mg/mL was 100%. The LD 50 of the intraperitoneal injection of the P. khinjuk methanolic extract was 2.8 g/kg and the maximum non-fatal dose was 1.7 g/kg., Conclusion: The findings demonstrated effective scolicidal effects of P. khinjuk extract with no considerable toxicity that might be a natural source for the producing of new scolicidal agent.

Background: There are some genetic differences in Blastocystis that show the existence of species or genotypes. One of these genes that help in identifying Blastocystis is SSUrRNA. The aim of this study was assessment of genetic diversity of Blastocystis by PCR with seven pairs of STS primers., Methods: This study was done on 511 stool samples collected from patients referred to the health care centers of Khorramabad, Central Iran, in 2012. Genomic DNA was extracted and in order to determine the Blastocystis subtype in contaminated samples, seven pairs of primers STS (subtype specific sequence-tagged site) were used., Results: Out of 511 samples, 33 (6.5%) samples were infected with Blastocystis. Subtype (ST) of 30 samples was identified and three subtypes 2, 3 and 4 were determined. Mix infection was reported 10% which 3.33% of the infection was for the mixture of ST 3 and ST5 and 6.67% was for the mixture of ST 2 and ST 3., Conclusion: The predominant subtype was ST3 that is the main human subtype. The dominance of ST2 and 5 are important in this study. This superiority has been reported in some of the studies in ST 2 which is different from the studies in other countries, because they have announced priorities of the ST1 and ST6 after ST3.