distribution and diversity of <i>hmw1a</i> among invasive nontypeable <i>haemophilus influenzae</i> isolates in iran

background: the pathogenesis of nontypeable haemophilus influenzae (nthi) begins with adhesion to the rhinopharyngeal mucosa. almost 38-80% of nthi clinical isolates produce proteins that belong to the high molecular weight (hmw) family of adhesins, which are believed to facilitate colonization. methods: in the present study, the prevalence of hmwa, which encodes the hmw adhesin, was determined for a collection of 32 nthi isolates. restriction fragment length polymorphism (rflp) was performed to advance our understanding of hmwa binding sequence diversity. results: the results demonstrated that hmwa was detected in 61% of nthi isolates. according to rflp, isolates were divided into three groups. conclusion: based on these observations, it is hypothesized that some strains of nontypeable haemophilus influenzae infect some specific areas more than other parts.