Allelic Dimorphism of the Plasmodium falciparum Erythrocyte Binding Antigen-175 (EBA-175) Gene in the South-east of Iran

Background: The erythrocyte binding antigen 175 kDa (EBA-175) gene is located on chromosome 7. It encodes protein that binds to specific receptor glycophorin A on the erythrocyte surface during inva­sion. It has a dimorphic nature (FCR3 and CAMP). This study was designed to determine the distribu­tion of EBA-175 alleles of Plasmodium falciparum in the southeast of Iran Methods: We used the nested PCR method with specific primers, which improves the two fragments of the EBA-175 gene. Sixty eight microscopically positive blood samples were collected from the in­fected falciparum malaria subjects in the southeast of Iran. Results: In this study which marks the first one in Iran, CAMP strains (714 bp) and FCR-3 strains (795 bp) were found in 14 (37.8%) and 23 (62.2%) in the originally Iranian subjects and in 10 (32.3%) and 19 (61.3%) Pakistani infected migrants respectively. Two migrant cases (6.4%) had mix CAMP/FCR-3 infection. Conclusion: The two fragments of dimorphic EBA-175 gene were observed and the FCR-3 allele was more prevalent in Iran. There was no significant correlation between one of the EBA-175 alleles and the subject group in the mentioned region. This distributional pattern should be considered in design­ing to control P. falciparum malaria in the region