Molecular and serological detection ofamong wild rats in flood-prone residential areas of Indonesia.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Indonesia is a tropical country with heavy rainfall, mostly in low-lying areas. Floods are one of the most common natural disasters in Indonesia, with climate change causing continuous flooding in some regions. The spread of human pathogens as a severe consequence of flooding, such as, which may cause Weil's disease, is a concern for public health. AIM: In this cross-sectional study, we compared DNA from the rat kidney to serum samples to identify pathogenicusing polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification to promote a less invasive method of collecting samples from the rat vectors. METHODS: Fifty-nine rodents inhabiting highly populated, flood-prone suburban regions were captured inside and outside houses. Following DNA extractions, we analyzed the quantity and quality of DNA concentration from the kidney and serum specimens using a nanophotometer. Thegene was amplified to detect the pathogenic. RESULTS: The mean value of kidney DNA was 151.67 ng/µl with an average A260/A280 value of 1.836, whereas the mean value of serum DNA was 22.08 ng/µl with an average A260/A280 value of 1.233. Twenty (33.9%) kidney DNA and 10 (16.9%) serum DNA samples showed the target DNA (). The multiple sequence alignment analysis revealed thesequences homology toser. Copenhageni. CONCLUSION: Rat kidneys exhibited higher DNA amount and purity than the serum. Moreover, the PCR detection ofrevealed higher positive results in kidney DNA than serum DNA samples, with high similarity tosequences. Therefore, the kidney remains a better DNA source than serum for the molecular analysis ofin rats.