BioProject

Giardia lamblia is one of most common agents causing persistent abdominal symptoms in developed and developing countries. More...

Giardia lamblia is one of most common agents causing persistent abdominal symptoms in developed and developing countries. There are several diagnostic methods for Giardia infection, but none are optimal. In this study our aim was to find a new method based on Giardia microRNA (miRNA) that would contribute to the currently available diagnostic methods of giardiasis. Profiling Giardia small RNAs by deep sequencing revealed that the previously reported putative miR5 and miR6 are expressed in several G. lamblia isolates. These miRNAs were later tested by PCR in duodenal biopsies from 8 patients with positive pathology for giardiasis, while gastric biopsies served as matched negative controls. Additionally, these miRNAs were evaluated in stool samples of patients with proven giardiasis. All 8 duodenal samples of patients with histologically proven G. lamblia infection were positive for Giardia miR5 with a mean Ct of 23.7. These results were superior to Ct levels of G. lamblia DNA, which were 26.3 (p=0.004). The miR6 results were close to negative. All 10 gastric biopsies were negative for miR5. Stool studies showed 90% specificity but only 50% sensitivity in diagnosing giardiasis using miR6. The results of miR5 in stool were even less accurate. In conclusion, miR5 testing for Giardia infection in duodenal biopsies, may be a breakthrough method for diagnosis of giardiasis. It seems to be superior to G. lamblia DNA in duodenal biopsies. It would be important to investigate the contribution of routine Giardia miRNA testing in duodenal biopsies and duodenal aspirates from patients with persistent abdominal symptoms. Overall design: For this part of the project, we profiled small RNA from Giardia lamblia trophozoites of 5 strains obtained from the BEI Resources Less...