en ميكروبیولوژی Microbiology پژوهشي Research <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:normal"><span style="text-autospace:none"><span sans-serif="" style="font-family:Calibri,"><b><u><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="color:#2f5496">Background & Objectives:</span></span></span></u></b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""> The tick <i>Borrelia tholozani</i> serves as a principal vector for Relapsing Fever <i>Borrelia </i>(RFB), an endemic pathogen in Iran. In this study, we assessed and compared the efficacy of loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays for the detection of <i>Borrelia </i>by targeting the <i>glycerophosphodiester phosphodiesterase </i>(<i>glpQ</i>) gene&mdash;a sequence conserved across all RFB species&mdash;in <i>O. tholozani </i>ticks collected from Northwest Iran.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:normal"><span style="text-autospace:none"><span sans-serif="" style="font-family:Calibri,"><b><u><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="color:#2f5496">Materials & Methods:</span></span></span></u></b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""> A total of 103 <i>O. tholozani </i>ticks were collected from Northwest Iran in 2017. Following DNA extraction, the samples were analyzed using both <i>glpQ</i>-LAMP and <i>glpQ</i>-PCR assays.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:normal"><span style="text-autospace:none"><span sans-serif="" style="font-family:Calibri,"><b><u><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="color:#2f5496">Results:</span></span></span></u></b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""> The <i>glpQ</i> gene sequence indicative of RFB was identified in 18.44% (19 out of 103) of the ticks when analyzed by <i>glpQ</i>-LAMP, whereas the <i>glpQ</i>-PCR assay detected RFB DNA in 12.62% (13 out of 103) of the samples.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:normal"><span style="text-autospace:none"><span sans-serif="" style="font-family:Calibri,"><b><u><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="color:#2f5496">Conclusion:</span></span></span></u></b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""> The <i>glpQ</i>-LAMP assay is proposed as a rapid and reliable molecular diagnostic tool for monitoring RFB in ticks from areas endemic for Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever (TBRF).</span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:normal"><span style="text-autospace:none"><span sans-serif="" style="font-family:Calibri,"><b><u><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="color:#2f5496"></span></span></span></u></b></span></span></span></span><br> &nbsp;</div> Borrelia, Borrelia tholozani, glpQ, LAMP, PCR 116 124 http://jabs.fums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-3441-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Faezeh Houmansadr فائزه هومن صدر faezehhouman@ymail.com 100319475328460029709 100319475328460029709 No Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, AJA University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran گروه میکروبیولوژی، دانشکده پزشکی، دانشگاه علوم پزشکی آجا، تهران، ایران Mohammad Soleimani محمد سلیمانی soleimanidor@yahoo.com 100319475328460029710 100319475328460029710 Yes Infectious Diseases Research Center, AJA University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran مرکز تحقیقات بیماری‌های عفونی، دانشگاه علوم پزشکی آجا، تهران، ایران