Background: The species of liver fluke of the genus Fasciola are obligatory parasites that inhabit the biliary
ducts of herbivorous animals as well as human. Understanding genetic structure and status of genetic variation
of F. hepatica populations has important implications for epidemiology and effective control of fasciolosis. Aim:
To genetically characterize Fasciola isolates from different hosts from Assiut, Egypt using sequence analysis of
the first and second internal transcribed spacers (ITS-1 and ITS-2) of nuclear ribosomal DNA (rDNA).
Methods: Three adults F. hepatica were isolated from naturally infected sheep and fragments of Fasciola spp.
were extracted from three human cases by ERCP (Endscopic Retrograde Cholangio-Pancreatography).
Genomic DNA was extracted from preserved flukes. Conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with a set of
arbitrary primers was used to estimate genetic variation within the species. Ribosomal ITS-1 and ITS-2 regions
of the isolates were amplified. The amplicons were sequenced at ITS-1 and ITS-2.
Results: Both regions were amplified successfully for all samples and bands ranged between 400 bp and 650 bp
were shown in all cases. Comparison of the obtained ITS sequences to those from known Fasciola species
circulating globally and retrieved from GenBank revealed that the present worms were genetically identical
(100%) with F. hepatica. Different isolates did not show any significant genetic variations in rDNA-ITS-1 and
ITS-2 as all the sequences showed to be 100% identical.
Conclusions: These findings have implications for studying the population genetics, epidemiology, diagnosis
and control of fasciolosis especially in human.