Genetic diversity of the human head lice, Pediculus humanus capitis, among primary school girls in Saudi Arabia, with reference to their prevalence

Al-Shahrani, Sarah A.; Alajmi, Reem A.; Ayaad, Tahany H.; Alshahrani, Mohammed Abdulrahman; Shaurub, El‐Sayed H.

doi:10.1007/s00436-017-5570-3

Cited by 21 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Clade B is mainly found in America, where it exhibits a high diversification (Reed et al, 2004;Light et al, 2008a;Ascunce et al, 2013). This clade is also found in Western Europe, Australia, North Algeria, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, and in Israel among head lice remains dating back to the Roman period (Raoult et al, 2008;Ascunce et al, 2013;Ashfaq et al, 2015;Boutellis et al, 2015;Al-Shahrani et al, 2017). Clade F is the sister group of clade B.…”

Section: Louse Mitochondrial Cladesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Where Are We With Human Lice? A Review of the Current State of Knowledge

Amanzougaghene

Fénollar

Raoult

et al. 2020

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.

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Pediculus humanus is an obligate bloodsucking ectoparasite of human that includes two ecotypes, head louse and body louse, which differ slightly in morphology and biology, but have distinct ecologies. Phylogenetically, they are classified on six mitochondrial clades (A, B, C, D, E, and F), head louse encompasses the full genetic diversity of clades, while body louse belongs to clades A and D. Recent studies suggested that not only body louse, but also head louse can transmit disease, which warrants greater attention as a serious public health problem. The recent sequencing of body louse genome confirmed that P. humanus has the smallest genome of any hemimetabolous insect reported to date, and also revealed numerous interesting characteristics in the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes. The transcriptome analyses showed that body and head lice were almost genetically identical. Indeed, the phenotypic flexibility associated with the emergence of body lice, is probably a result of regulatory changes, perhaps epigenetic in origin, triggered by environmental signals. Current lice control strategies have proven unsuccessful. For instance, ivermectin represents a relatively new and very promising pediculicide. However, ivermectin resistance in the field has begun to be reported. Therefore, novel opportunities for pest control strategies are needed. Our objective here is to review the current state of knowledge on the biology, epidemiology, phylogeny, disease-vector and control of this fascinating and very intimate human parasite.

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Section: Louse Mitochondrial Cladesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Where Are We With Human Lice? A Review of the Current State of Knowledge

Amanzougaghene

Fénollar

Raoult

et al. 2020

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.

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“…Clade A has a global distribution and is the most prevalent [9,10]. Clade B is frequently found in Americas, Europe and Australia, but has recently been detected in South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Algeria [8,11]. Clade C was found in Ethiopia, Congo-Brazzaville, Nepal, Pakistan and Thailand [7,12].…”

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confidence: 99%

Molecular identification of head lice collected in Franceville (Gabon) and their associated bacteria

et al. 2020

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Background: Pediculus humanus, which includes two ecotypes (body and head lice), is an obligate bloodsucking parasite that co-evolved with their human hosts over thousands of years, thus providing a valuable source of information to reconstruct the human migration. Pediculosis due to head lice occurred each year throughout the world and several pathogenic bacteria, which are usually associated with body lice, are increasingly detected in them. In Gabon, where this pediculosis is still widespread, there is a lack of data on genetic diversity of head lice and their associated bacteria. Methods: This study aimed to investigate the phylogeny of head lice collected in Gabon and their associated bacteria, using molecular tools. Between 26 March and 11 April 2018, 691 head lice were collected from 86 women in Franceville. We studied the genetic diversity of these lice based on the cytochrome b gene, then we screened them for DNA of Bartonella quintana, Borrelia spp., Acinetobacter spp., Yersinia pestis, Rickettsia spp., R. prowazekii, Anaplasma spp. and C. burnetii, using real time or standard PCR and sequencing. Results: Overall 74.6% of studied lice belonged to Clade A, 25.3% to Clade C and 0.1% to Clade E. The phylogenetic analysis of 344 head lice yielded 45 variable positions defining 13 different haplotypes from which 8 were novel. Bacterial screening revealed the presence of Borrelia spp. DNA in 3 (0.4%) of 691 head lice belonging to Clade A and infesting one individual. This Borrelia is close to B. theileri (GenBank: MN621894). Acinetobacter spp. DNA has been detected in 39 (25%) of the 156 screened lice; of these 13 (8.3%) corresponded to A. baumannii. Acinetobacter nosocomialis (n = 2) and A. pittii (n = 1) were also recorded. Conclusions: To of our knowledge, this study is the first to investigate the genetic diversity of head lice from Gabon. It appears that Clade C is the second most important clade in Gabon, after Clade A which is known to have a global distribution. The detection of Borrelia spp. DNA in these lice highlight the potential circulation of these bacteria in Gabon.

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“…Comparison of the nucleotide sequence of these groups with the results of the present study indicates the appearance of two clades (A and B) in the central regions of Iran. Findings from studies in Bisha governorate of Saudi Arabia [ 34 ], Pakistan [ 43 ], Israel and Iran [ 51 ], Turkey [ 52 ] and Egypt [ 43 ] also show the presence of the two mentioned clades in these countries. Our results and findings in the surrounding geographical areas are documentary evidence for the presence of these two clades in the Middle East.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity of mitochondrial genes and predominance of Clade B in different head lice populations in the northwest of Iran

et al. 2020

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Background The head louse, Pediculus humanus capitis, is the most important ectoparasite causing many health problems. Several linkages are presented for this parasite, each representing a particular geographical distribution, prevalence rate, vector competence, susceptibility to pediculicides, and infestation rate. Determining the genetic nature of these linkages is necessary to identify the population structure and also to develop and monitor control programmes against head lice. This study was designed to analyse cox1 and cytb genes and determine the mitochondrial clades in head lice populations in the northwest of Iran. Methods Adult head lice were collected from infested females of Ardabil, East and West Azerbaijan, and Zanjan Provinces from 2016 to 2018. Partial fragments of the mitochondrial genes cox1 and cytb were amplified by PCR and some of the amplicons were sequenced. All confirmed sequences were analysed, and the frequency of each mitochondrial clade was determined in the studied areas. Results A total of 6410 females were clinically examined, and 897 adult head lice were collected from 562 infested cases. Genomic DNA was extracted from 417 samples, and fragments of cox1 and cytb genes were amplified in 348 individuals. Analysis of the 116 sequences showed the 632-bp and 495-bp fragments for cox1 and cytb genes, respectively. The nucleotide and haplotype diversities of cytb and cox1 genes were 0.02261 and 0.589 and 0.01443 and 0.424, respectively. Sequence analysis indicated 6 haplotypes clustered in two clades, A and B. The relative prevalence of clade B was 73% for cytb and 82% for cox1 gene. Haplotypes of clade B were found in all the studied areas, while those of clade A were observed only in rural and suburban areas. Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first study investigated deeply the field populations of Pediculus and documented two clades in the Middle East. The considerable prevalence of pediculosis in the studied areas requires authorities’ attention to establish effective control and preventive measures. Given the role of cytb in monitoring population groups, application of this marker is suggested for future epigenetic studies to evaluate the factors affecting the abundance of these clades.

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Genetic diversity of the human head lice, Pediculus humanus capitis, among primary school girls in Saudi Arabia, with reference to their prevalence

Cited by 21 publications

References 38 publications

Where Are We With Human Lice? A Review of the Current State of Knowledge

Where Are We With Human Lice? A Review of the Current State of Knowledge

Molecular identification of head lice collected in Franceville (Gabon) and their associated bacteria

Diversity of mitochondrial genes and predominance of Clade B in different head lice populations in the northwest of Iran

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