Molecular and Microscopic Investigation of Entamoeba gingivalis Among Patients with Cancer

Background: Entamoeba gingivalis is a non-pathogenic ameba that inhabits the human oral cavity and occasionally other sites.Entamoeba gingivalis may become pathogenic in cancer patients under chemotherapy.The aim of this study is to investigation of Entamoeba gingivalis in cancer patients compared to healthy individuals (as a control), in the Thi-Qar Province of Iraq.Methods: Samples were collected from individuals with diseased periodontal sites and from individuals with healthy periodontal sites from cancer patients and control groups in a hospital Al-Haboubi Teaching Hospital for the period from August 2023 to December 2023, for detection of E. gingivalis.Samples were diagnosed by microscopic staining with Giemsa stain, and the recovered positive isolates were subjected to molecular analysis.Results: Amplification of DNA extracted from E. gingivalis of both cancer patients and healthy people using 18 rDNA revealed PCR products with 204 pb size for both diseased and healthy people.This study indicated that there are significant differences (p<0.05) in the percentage of E. gingivalis infections among cancer patients with periodontitis these have a higher infection rate (62%) than those who without (56 %), as well as control group was 56 % in individuals with periodontitis, and 30 % in individuals without.The current study showed the overall rate of infection of E. gingivalis by PCR technique was) 66.13%.Conclusion: This study showed the sequence was identical and there was no difference in sequence between all isolates.