In this study, the diversity of
Plasmodium vivax populations circulating in Pakistan and Iran has been investigated by using circumsporozoite protein (
csp) and merozoite surface proteins 1 and 3α (
msp-1 and
msp-3α) genes as genetic markers. Infected
P. vivax blood samples were collected from Pakistan (
n = 187) and Iran (
n = 150) during April to October 2008, and were analyzed using nested-PCR/RFLP and sequencing methods. Genotyping
pvmsp-1 (variable block 5) revealed the presence of type 1, type 2 and recombinant type 3 allelic variants, with type 1 predominant, in both study areas. The sequence analysis of 33
P. vivax isolates from Pakistan and 30 from Iran identified 16 distinct alleles each, with one allele (R-8) from Iran which was not reported previously. Genotyping
pvcsp gene also showed that VK210 type is predominant in both countries. Moreover, based on the size of amplified fragment of
pvmsp-3α, three major types: type A (1800 bp), type B (1500 bp) and type C (1200 bp), were distinguished among the examined isolates that type A was predominant among Pakistani (72.7%) and Iranian (77.3%) parasites. PCR/RFLP products of
pvmsp-3α with HhaI and AluI have detected 40 and 39 distinct variants among Pakistani and Iranian examined isolates, respectively. Based on these three studied genes, the rate of combined multiple genotypes were 30% and 24.6% for Pakistani and Iranian
P. vivax isolates, respectively. These results indicate an extensive diversity in the
P. vivax populations in both studies.
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