Molecular Markers for Detecting Schistosoma Species by Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification

Schistosomiasis is considered a neglected parasitic disease. Around 280,000 people die from it annually, and more than 779 million people are at risk of getting infected. The schistosome species which infect human beings are Schistosoma mansoni, Schistosoma haematobium, Schistosoma intercalatum, Schistosoma japonicum, Schistosoma guineensis, and Schistosoma mekongi. This disease is also of veterinary significance; the most important species being Schistosoma bovis since it causes the disease in around 160 million livestock in Africa and Asia. This work was aimed at designing and developing a genus-specific loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) method for detecting the most important schistosome species affecting humans and for the species-specific detection of S. bovis. Bioinformatics tools were used for primer design, and the LAMP method was standardised for detecting the ITS-1 region from S. intercalatum, S. haematobium, S. mansoni, S. japonicum, and S. bovis DNA (generic test) and the NADH 1 gene for specifically detecting S. bovis (at different DNA concentrations). Detection limits achieved were 1 pg DNA for S. mansoni, 0.1 pg for S. haematobium, 1 pg for S. intercalatum, and 10 pg for S. bovis. No amplification for S. japonicum DNA was obtained. The LAMP designed for the amplification of S. bovis NADH-1 worked specifically for this species, and no other DNA from other schistosome species included in the study was amplified. Two highly sensitive LAMP methods for detecting different Schistosoma species important for human and veterinary health were standardised. These methods could be very useful for the diagnosis and surveillance of schistosome infections.