blood meal identification in field-captured sand flies: comparison of pcr-rflp and elisa assays

background: we aimed to develop a pcr-rflp assay based on available sequences of putative vertebrate hosts to iden­tify blood meals ingested by field female sand fly in the northwest of iran. in addition, the utility of pcr-rflp was compared with elisa as a standard method. methods: this experimental study was performed in the insect molecular biology laboratory of school of public health, tehran university of medical sciences, iran in 2006-2007. for pcr-rflp a set of conserved vertebrate prim­ers were used to amplify a part of the host mitochondrial cytochrome b (cyt b) gene followed by digestion of the pcr products by hae iii enzyme. results: the pcr-rflp and elisa assays revealed that 34% and 27% of field-collected sand flies had fed on hu­mans, respectively. additionally, pcr-rflp assays could reveal specific host dna as well as the components of mixed blood meals. results of pcr-rflp assay showed that the sand flies had fed on cow (54%), human (10%), dog (4%), human and cow (21%), dog and cow (14%), and human and dog (3%). conclusion: the results can provide a novel method for rapid diagnosis of blood meal taken by sandflies. the advan­tages and limitations of pcr and elisa assays are discussed.