Prevalence and genetic diversity of Trichomonas vaginalis clinical isolates in a targeted population in Xinxiang City, Henan Province, China

Zhenchao Zhang, Lixia Kang, Weijuan Wang, Xin Zhao, Yuhua Li, Qing Xie, Shuai Wang, Tong He, Han Li, Tingwei Xiao, Yunchao Chen, Suqiong Zuo, Lingmin Kong, Pengju Li, Xiangrui Li, Zhenchao Zhang, Lixia Kang, Weijuan Wang, Xin Zhao, Yuhua Li, Qing Xie, Shuai Wang, Tong He, Han Li, Tingwei Xiao, Yunchao Chen, Suqiong Zuo, Lingmin Kong, Pengju Li, Xiangrui Li

Abstract

Background: Trichomonas vaginalis (TV) is a protozoan parasite that causes trichomoniasis, a sexually transmitted disease, worldwide. In this study, we investigated the prevalence and genetic characterization of T. vaginalis and contrasted the most prevalent strains of T. vaginalis isolated from Xinxiang City, Henan Province, China.

Results: In Xinxiang from September 2015 to September 2017, a total of 267 (1.64%, 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.45-1.85) clinical T. vaginalis-positive samples from vaginal secretions were observed by wet mount microscopy from 16,294 women with some clinical symptoms of trichomoniasis. We found that trichomoniasis frequently occurred in the 21- to 40-year-old age group and in winter. After the 267 clinical T. vaginalis positive samples were cultured, 68 isolates of T. vaginalis were harvested and identified as genotype E (58.82%), H (17.65%), mixed 1 (17.65%) and mixed 2 (5.88%) using a sensitive and reliable polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) typing method on the actin gene. The phylogenetic diversity analysis showed that the genotype E samples fell within a separate clade compared to the other T. vaginalis isolates, while the samples of the genotype H separated into two clades.

Conclusions: Our results demonstrate a notable gene polymorphism of clinical isolates from the targeted population and provide insight into the performance of these genetic markers in the molecular epidemiology of trichomoniasis. However, further studies are needed to clarify the association between a certain genotype and the pathogenicity of T. vaginalis.

Keywords: China; Genetic diversity; Prevalence; Trichomonas vaginalis.

Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Review Committee of Xinxiang Medical University (Reference No. 2015016).

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Epidemic characteristics of trichomoniasis by age and season in Xinxiang. a Prevalence of T. vaginalis in different age groups. b Prevalence of T. vaginalis in the four seasons of the year
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
DNA fragment patterns of isolates after the digestion of actin genotypes E (a), H (b), mixed 1 (c) and mixed 2 (d) on 3% agarose gel. Lane M: 2000 bp DNA marker; Lane 1: banding patterns after digestion with HindII; Lane 2: banding patterns after digestion with RsaI; Lane 3: banding patterns after digestion with MseI
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Percentage of actin genotypes E, H, mixed 1 and mixed 2 of the isolates
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
A phylogenetic tree of Xinxiang and reference trichomonad isolates, based on the actin gene. The five sequence types identified in this study are shown with a dark square

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