differntiation of entamoeba histolytica and entamoeba dispar by pcr-rflp (isolates of tehran, iran)

introduction: differential diagnosis of potential pathogenic entamoeba histological from non-pathogenic entamoeba dispar by a molecular method. material and methods: one pair of primers designed based on sequence of genomic dna coding the 30kd surface antigen of e.histolytica/e.dispar. a 374 base pair pcr product was amplified by using the primers. electrophoretic patterns of pcr product digested with hinfi was used for differentiation of two species. results: the rflp pattern obtained from standard e.histolytica isolate had two fragments (219 bp and 155 bp), but the standard isolate of e.dispar showed three fragments (155, 152, 67bp). differential diagnosis of 8 isolates from tehran by using this method indicates that all of them were e.dispar. conclusion: differentiation of e.histolytica and e.dispar is of great clinical and epidemiological importance. these two organisms are morphologically indistinguishable but pcr based methods could be used for proper and accurate differentiation of two amoebas.