ABSTRACT
Blastocystis hominis and Cystoisospora belli are considered to be common opportunistic intestinal protozoa in HIV/AIDS patients. In order to investigate the prevalence and genetic characteristics of B. hominis and C. belli in HIV/AIDS patients, a total of 285 faecal samples were individually collected from HIV/AIDS patients in Guangxi, China. B. hominis and C. belli were investigated by amplifying the barcode region of the SSU rRNA gene and the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS-1) region of the rRNA gene, respectively. Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test were conducted to assess the risk factors related to B. hominis and C. belli infection. The prevalence of B. hominis and C. belli was 6.0% (17/285) and 1.1% (3/285) respectively. Four genotypes of B. hominis were detected, with ST3 (n = 8) and ST1 (n = 6) being predominant, followed by ST6 (n = 2) and ST7 (n = 1). Females had a statistically higher prevalence of B. hominis (11.6%) than males (4.2%). The statistical analysis also showed that the prevalence of B. hominis was significantly associated with age group and educational level. Our study provides convincing evidence for the genetic diversity of B. hominis, which indicates its potential zoonotic transmission and is the first report on the molecular characteristics of C. belli in HIV/AIDS patients in China.
Subject(s)
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/parasitology , Blastocystis hominis/genetics , Isospora/genetics , Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/complications , Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/genetics , Adult , Blastocystis/genetics , Blastocystis Infections/epidemiology , Blastocystis hominis/pathogenicity , China/epidemiology , DNA, Protozoan/genetics , Feces/parasitology , Female , Genetic Variation/genetics , Genotype , HIV-1/pathogenicity , Humans , Isospora/pathogenicity , Isosporiasis/epidemiology , Isosporiasis/genetics , Male , Middle Aged , Prevalence , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Enterocytozoon bieneusi has been increasingly reported to infect humans and various mammals. Microsporidia cause diarrhea in HIV-infected patients worldwide. PCR amplification and sequencing based on the internal transcribed spacer region have been used to describe the genotypes of E. bieneusi and transmission of microsporidiosis. METHODS: In this study, we examined E. bieneusi infection and genotypes in HIV-positive patients in Guangxi, China. Stool specimens were collected from 285 HIV-positive patients and 303 HIV-negative individuals. E. bieneusi genotypes were characterized using nested PCR and sequencing. RESULTS: Thirty-three (11.58%) HIV-positive patients were infected with microsporidia, and no infection was found in the 303 healthy controls. Three new genotypes were identified and named as GX25, GX456, and GX458; four known genotypes, PigEBITS7, Type IV/K, D, and Ebpc, were also identified. Our data showed that the positive rate for microsporidia was significantly higher in the rural patients than in the other occupation groups. In addition, the positive rate for microsporidia was significantly higher in the patients who drink unboiled water than in those with other drinking water sources. CONCLUSIONS: Our results will provide baseline data for preventing and controlling E. bieneusi infection in HIV/AIDS patients. Further studies are required to clarify the epidemiology and potential sources of microsporidia. Our study showed that microsporidium infection occurs in the HIV/AIDS patients in Guangxi, China.