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Corresponding Author

Gamal ali Abu sheishaa

Document Type

Original Article

Abstract

Background: Blastocystis spp. is a large unicellular intestinal protozoan parasite with a worldwide distribution. It has unclear pathogenicity and is linked to many clinical disorders. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of Blastocystis spp. molecularly in a cohort of symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals and to assess the association of Blastocystis spp. with the patient characteristics as possible predictors of blastocystosis. Methods: Fecal specimens were collected and examined coproscopically for detection of gut parasites and cultured on Modified Jones’ medium for detection of Blastocystis spp. Molecular assay using nested PCR targeting Blastocystis copro-DNA was performed. The association between detection of Blastocystis spp. and patient demographics and clinical data was determined. Results: Prevalence of parasitic infections was 62 (44.6%) using coproscopy. Blastocystis spp. was the prevalent parasite (21.6%), followed by E. histolytica complex (13.7%) and Giardia intestinalis (10.8%). Cryptosporidium spp. (2.2%) and E. coli (2.1%). Among studied patient characteristics, only age showed statistical significance in association with detection of Blastocysitis spp. Microscopy for detection of Blastocystis was of perfect specificity but limited by false negatives (16.7%). All cases positive by culture were confirmed positive by PCR. Conclusion: Blastocystis remains a prevailing gut parasite in both symptomatic and asymptomatic studied Egyptians. Only GIT symptoms showed significant correlation with detection of Blastocystis in stool, and can be a predictor of the probability of having blastocystosis. Further studies are required to speciate Blastocystis and to determine its role in health and disease.

Keywords

Blastocystis; Microscopy; Culture; PCR; predictors.

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