Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 77 in total

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  1. Isolate resistance of Blastocystis hominis to metronidazole
    Haresh K, Suresh K, Khairul Anus A, Saminathan S
    Trop Med Int Health, 1999 Apr;4(4):274-7.
    PMID: 10357863
    Isolates of Blastocystis hominis from infected immigrant workers from Indonesia, Bangladesh and infected individuals from Singapore and Malaysia were assessed for growth pattern and degree of resistance to different concentrations of metronidazole. Viability of the cells was assessed using eosin-brillian cresyl blue which stained viable cells green and nonviable cells red. The Bangladeshi and Singaporean isolates were nonviable even at the lowest concentration of 0.01 mg/ml, whereas 40% of the initial inoculum of parasites from the Indonesian isolate at day one were still viable in cultures with 1.0 mg/ml metronidazole. The study shows that isolates of B. hominis of different geographical origin have different levels of resistance to metronidazole. The search for more effective drugs to eliminate th parasite appears inevitable, especially since surviving parasites from metronidazole cultures show greater ability to multiply in subcultures than controls.
    Matched MeSH terms: Blastocystis Infections/drug therapy; Blastocystis Infections/parasitology*; Blastocystis hominis/drug effects*; Blastocystis hominis/growth & development
  2. Parasitological survey of schoolchildren from a highaltitude community from Tucumán Province, Argentina: Remarkable low detection of soil-transmitted helminths in comparison with coastal communities
    Dib JR, Fernández-Zenoff MV, Oquilla J, Rudelli M, Lazarte S, González SN
    Trop Biomed, 2015 Dec 01;32(4):800-804.
    PMID: 33557474
    The prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among schoolchildren in Colalao del Valle, a high-altitude community in Tucumán province, Argentina, was investigated. The data revealed a high prevalence of parasitism (79.7%) with no significant differences in distribution by sex or age. Protozoa infections were the most common with Blastocystis hominis being the most prevalent (62.5%), followed by Giardia lamblia (29.7%), Endolimax nana (15.6%), Entamoeba coli (12.5%) and Iodamoeba bütschlii (3.1%). Interestingly, there was an absence of soil-transmitted helminths among the studied population which could be related to climate (variable temperatures, moderate rainfall) and soil type (clay).
    Matched MeSH terms: Blastocystis hominis
  3. Subtype distribution of Blastocystis isolated from humans and associated animals in an indigenous community with poor hygiene in Peninsular Malaysia
    Mohammad NA, Al-Mekhlafi HM, Anuar TS
    Trop Biomed, 2018 Dec 01;35(4):849-860.
    PMID: 33601835
    Blastocystis is one of the most common parasites inhabiting the intestinal tract of human and animals. Currently, human Blastocystis isolates are classified into nine subtypes (STs) based on the phylogeny of their small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene. Although its pathogenicity remains controversial, the possibility of zoonotic transmission was recognized since eight of the nine STs (except for ST9) have been reported in both humans and animals. A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence and subtype distribution of Blastocystis isolated from humans and associated animals in an indigenous community with poor hygiene in Malaysia, where the risk of parasitic infection is high. A total of 275 stool samples were collected, subjected to DNA extraction and amplified by PCR assay. The Blastocystis-positive amplicons were then purified and sequenced. Phylogenetic tree of positive isolates, reference strains and outgroup were constructed using maximum likelihood method based on Hasegawa-KishinoYano+G+I model. The prevalence of Blastocystis infection among humans and domestic animals by PCR assay were 18.5% (45/243) and 6.3% (2/32), respectively. Through molecular phylogeny, 47 isolates were separated into five clusters containing isolates from both hosts. Among human isolates, ST3 (53.3%) was the predominant subtype, followed by ST1 (31.1%) and ST2 (15.6%). Chicken and cattle had lower proportions of ST6 (50%) and ST10 (50%), that were barely seen in humans. The distinct distributions of the most important STs among the host animals as well as humans examined demonstrate that there is various host-specific subtypes in the lifecycle of Blastocystis.
    Matched MeSH terms: Blastocystis Infections; Blastocystis
  4. A case report of Blastocystis infection and Steven Johnson's syndrome
    Singh A, Priyadarshi K, Raj T, Banerjee T
    Trop Biomed, 2019 Dec 01;36(4):987-992.
    PMID: 33597468
    Blastocystis species (spp.) is an emerging pathogen. There are several unsolved issues linked to this parasite ranging from its nomenclature, commensal status, standardization of laboratory diagnostic methods, genotypes and treatment. Recently, there has been an increase in reports of Blastocystis spp. from symptomatic cases which provide enough evidence of its pathogenic potential. A range of signs and symptoms, from gastro-intestinal to cutaneous manifestations have been attributed to Blastocystis infection. Few reports have established an association between intestinal infection with Blastocystis spp. and skin manifestations in form of urticaria, palmoplantar pruritus and allergy with complete resolution of cutaneous lesions with eradication of the parasite. In this report, we describe a case of Steven Johnson's syndrome (SJS) in a 6 years old girl along with infection with Blastocystis spp. marked by diarrhea and abdominal pain. Stool examination revealed the presence of all forms of the parasite with subsequent decrease in parasite burden and diarrhea over a period of time. Interestingly, the clearance of Blastocystis spp. from stool was followed by recovery from skin lesions and other symptoms. In this case, the course of SJS was clearly associated with Blastocystis infection. Though skin manifestation with Blastocystis infection has been previously reported, this is the first report of its association with SJS. This report indicates newer insights of the parasite that are less well studied.
    Matched MeSH terms: Blastocystis Infections/diagnosis*
  5. Epitope variances demonstrated by Blastocystis sp. ST3 symptomatic and asymptomatic isolates
    Sheela DS, Chandramathi S, Suresh K
    Trop Biomed, 2020 Mar 01;37(1):210-217.
    PMID: 33612732
    Blastocystis sp. is an enteric protozoan parasite of humans and many animals. Blastocystis sp. subtype 3 (ST3) proves to be the highest frequency case in most populations around the world and it is further distinguished into symptomatic and asymptomatic isolates based on the clinical symptoms exhibited by infected individuals. Phenotypic and genotypic studies implicate the distinctiveness of this parasite which may describe its pathogenesis. However, the antigenic distinctiveness which describes the antibody mediated cell lysis of this parasite has not been explored. This study was aimed to identify the cross-reactivity and cytotoxicity effect between three isolates of symptomatic and asymptomatic Blastocystis sp. ST3 respectively. Antigen specificity and diversity of this parasite was performed by coculturing sera (10-fold dilution) obtained from mice immunised with Blastocystis sp. symptomatic and asymptomatic antigens and the respective Blastocystis sp. ST3 live cells through complement dependant cell cytotoxicity (CDC) assay. The results obtained has shown that, the sera (at 10-fold diluted concentration) from symptomatic and asymptomatic solubilised antigen immunised mice were able to specifically lyse the respective live parasites with an average percentage of 82% and 86% respectively. There were almost 50% crossreactivity observed between the three isolates of Blastocystis sp. ST3 from symptomatic and asymptomatic group proving high antigen diversity or rather low antigen specificity within the same group. However, there was only 17% cross-reactivity observed between the mice sera and parasitic cells of different groups (symptomatic vs asymptomatic isolates) suggesting high specificity between these two groups. We, for the first time have proven that through CDC analysis there were epitopes dissimilarities between Blastocystis sp. ST3 symptomatic and asymptomatic isolates which may allow the parasite to set up diverse immune modulations such as imbalanced Th1/Th2 responses in an infected host.
    Matched MeSH terms: Blastocystis Infections/immunology; Blastocystis Infections/parasitology*; Blastocystis/immunology*
  6. Prevalence and subtype distribution of Blastocystis sp. in cattle from Pahang, Malaysia
    Kamaruddin SK, Mat Yusof A, Mohammad M
    Trop Biomed, 2020 Mar 01;37(1):127-141.
    PMID: 33612724
    Blastocystis sp. is a common enteric protozoan parasite found in humans and various type of animal worldwide. Recently, genotypic distribution of Blastocystis sp. was revealed in insects, rodents, avian and mammals, which exposed its potential of transmiting the infections to human. However, very little information on current level of Blastocystis sp. infection were reported in cattle from Malaysia. Herein, a total of 120 stool samples of cattles were collected. While the potential risk of infection such as age, gender, body score, diarrheic condition of the cattle were noted, the management of the farms was also recorded. All stool sample were cultured, but 80 samples were selected for PCR sequencing analysis. The cultivation and microscopic examination revealed only 25% of the cattle (30/120) were infected with Blastocystis sp.. But, 43.8% of the cattle (35/80) were found positive upon PCR sequencing. The study also found that age, body score condition, diarrheic condition and certain farm were associated with the infection (p<0.05). Six subtypes (STs) that were discovered during the study were ST10 (21.3%;17/35), ST5 (8.8%;7/35), ST3 (7.5%;6/35), ST1 (2.5%;2/35), ST4 (2.5%;2/35) and ST14 (1.3%;1/35). Thus, moderate infections of Blastocystis sp. and variants in the genotypic distributions of the cattle suggest its potential for zoonotic transmission. Therefore, this findings could be helpful for further understanding the parasite, which assist studies of its pathogenicity.
    Matched MeSH terms: Blastocystis Infections/epidemiology; Blastocystis Infections/parasitology; Blastocystis Infections/veterinary*; Blastocystis/classification; Blastocystis/isolation & purification*
  7. Wild hosts and microscopic worlds: Investigating the morphology and surface ultrastructure of Blastocystis sp. in avian and non-human primate species
    Sanggari A, Attah AO, Yahaya ZS, Farah Haziqah MT
    Trop Biomed, 2023 Dec 01;40(4):392-399.
    PMID: 38308825 DOI: 10.47665/tb.40.4.003
    Blastocystis is a prevalent infectious agent found in the gastrointestinal tract of humans and animals. While the morphology of Blastocystis has been extensively studied, there is still a lack of comprehensive research on its ultrastructure, especially regarding surface characteristics and their correlation with pathogenic potential. Additionally, the subtyping of Blastocystis does not provide information on the isolate's pathogenicity. This study aimed to examine the morphology and the cell surface of Blastocystis in avian and non-human primates, including peafowl, pheasant, and lion-headed tamarin. By employing light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), this study provides the first evidence of the cellular and surface features of Blastocystis in these animal species. Our findings revealed distinct variations in cell size, shape, and surface morphology among the different host species. Notably, the isolates from peafowl exhibited larger cell sizes compared to the isolates from the pheasant. However, interestingly, both animal species were found to exhibit the same Blastocystis ST6. It was also observed that the surface structure of Blastocystis from different hosts displayed a diverse range of patterns, including mesh-like appearances, deep indentations, and attachments to bacteria. Additionally, findings also revealed the presence of a rough surface structure in peafowl, a characteristic that has been previously linked to pathogenicity and symptomatic infection in animals, as indicated by earlier studies. The findings contribute to our understanding of the morphological features and the surface characteristic of Blastocystis in different host species, shedding light on the parasite's adaptations and potential implications for host health.
    Matched MeSH terms: Blastocystis*
  8. Infections of Blastocystis hominis and microsporidia in cancer patients: are they opportunistic?
    Chandramathi S, Suresh K, Anita ZB, Kuppusamy UR
    Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg, 2012 Apr;106(4):267-9.
    PMID: 22340948 DOI: 10.1016/j.trstmh.2011.12.008
    Chemotherapy can cause immunosuppression, which may trigger latent intestinal parasitic infections in stools to emerge. This study investigated whether intestinal parasites can emerge as opportunistic infections in breast and colorectal cancer patients (n=46 and n=15, respectively) undergoing chemotherapy treatment. Breast cancer patients were receiving a 5-fluorouracil/epirubicin/cyclophosphamide (FEC) regimen (6 chemotherapy cycles), and colorectal cancer patients were receiving either an oxaliplatin/5-fluorouracil/folinic acid (FOLFOX) regimen (12 cycles) or a 5-fluorouracil/folinic acid (Mayo) regimen (6 cycles). Patients had Blastocystis hominis and microsporidia infections that were only present during the intermediate chemotherapy cycles. Thus, cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy should be screened repeatedly for intestinal parasites, namely B. hominis and microsporidia, as they may reduce the efficacy of chemotherapy treatments.
    Matched MeSH terms: Blastocystis hominis/immunology; Blastocystis hominis/pathogenicity*
  9. Apoptosis in Blastocystis spp. is related to subtype
    Dhurga DB, Suresh KG, Tan TC, Chandramathi S
    Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg, 2012 Dec;106(12):725-30.
    PMID: 23141370 DOI: 10.1016/j.trstmh.2012.08.005
    Previous studies have shown that apoptosis-like features are observed in Blastocystis spp., an intestinal protozoan parasite, when exposed to the cytotoxic drug metronidazole (MTZ). This study reports that among the four subtypes of Blastocystis spp. investigated for rate of apoptosis when treated with MTZ, subtype 3 showed the highest significant increase after 72h of in vitro culture when treated with MTZ at 0.1mg/ml (79%; p<0.01) and 0.0001mg/ml (89%; p<0.001). The close correlation between viable cells and apoptotic cells for both dosages implies that the pathogenic potential of these isolates has been enhanced when treated with MTZ. This suggests that there is a mechanism in Blastocystis spp. that actually regulates the apoptotic process to produce higher number of viable cells when treated. Apoptosis may not just be programmed cell death but instead a mechanism to increase the number of viable cells to ensure survival during stressed conditions. The findings of the present study have an important contribution to influence chemotherapeutic approaches when developing drugs against the emerging Blastocystis spp. infections.
    Matched MeSH terms: Blastocystis Infections/drug therapy; Blastocystis Infections/parasitology*; Blastocystis/cytology; Blastocystis/drug effects*; Blastocystis/isolation & purification
  10. Blastocystis hominis in high-rise flat dwellers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
    Suresh K, Salim HR, Jamaiah I, Anuar AK
    Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg, 2001 10 3;95(4):377-8.
    PMID: 11579877
    Matched MeSH terms: Blastocystis Infections/epidemiology*; Blastocystis hominis/isolation & purification*
  11. Restriction enzyme digestion analysis of PCR-amplified DNA of Blastocystis hominis isolates
    Init I, Foead AL, Fong MY, Yamazaki H, Rohela M, Yong HS, et al.
    Southeast Asian J. Trop. Med. Public Health, 2007 Nov;38(6):991-7.
    PMID: 18613539
    Genomic DNA of Blastocystis isolates released into 0.1% Triton X-100 was suitable for amplification and yielded similar results as the genomic DNA extracted with standard kit. The specific B. hominis primers (BH1: GCT TAT CTG GTT GAT CCT GCC AGT and BH2: TGA TCC TTC CGC AGG TTC ACC TAC A) successfully produced the PCR product of about 1,770 bp with all the 7 Blastocystis isolates tested. The restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) patterns yielded by 13 out of 25 restriction endonucleases showed that the 7 isolates could be grouped into 4 subgroups: subgroup-1 consisted of isolate C; subgroup-2 of isolates H4 and H7; subgroup-3 of isolates KP1, Y51 and M12; and subgroup-4 of isolate 27805. The differences between subgroups manifested as clear-cut RFLP patterns. A common band of 230 bp was revealed by Eco R1 in all the Blastocystis isolates tested. The band of about 180 bp was revealed by Alu I, differentiated symptomatic from asymptomatic isolates of this parasite, and might indicate the pathogenicity of this parasite.
    Matched MeSH terms: Blastocystis Infections/parasitology; Blastocystis hominis/genetics*; Blastocystis hominis/isolation & purification
  12. Fulltext Prevalence of Blastocystis in animals from domesticated surroundings
    Chuong LS, Suresh K, Mak JW, Init I, Kathijah O
    Southeast Asian J. Trop. Med. Public Health, 1996 Dec;27(4):850-2.
    PMID: 9253897
    Matched MeSH terms: Blastocystis Infections/epidemiology*; Blastocystis Infections/transmission; Blastocystis*
  13. Fulltext Blastocystis hominis infection, a cause of human diarrhea
    Sinniah B, Rajeswari B
    Southeast Asian J. Trop. Med. Public Health, 1994 Sep;25(3):490-3.
    PMID: 7777913
    Blastocystis hominis has long been described as a non pathogenic protozoan parasite until recently when claims have been made that it can result in pathogenic conditions. Of the 729 stool samples (614 from survey and 115 from pediatric wards) examined, 18.1% of them were found to be positive for one or more intestinal protozoan cyst. The commonest was Giardia intestinalis (8.4%) Followed by Entamoeba coli (7.1%) and Entamoeba histolytica (5.1%) in the normal children without symptoms of diarrhea. When diarrheic stools were examined, the commonest parasite encountered was Giardia (20.4%), followed by E. coli (15.9%) and E. histolytica (9.7%). Blastocystis was observed in 4.4% of the children who had diarrhea and 1.1% among the children taken from the normal population in the rural areas.
    Matched MeSH terms: Blastocystis Infections/epidemiology*; Blastocystis hominis*
  14. Polypeptides associated with in vitro cyst formation of Blastocystis hominis
    Init I, Mak JW, Top S, Zulhainan Z, Prummongkol S, Nissapatorn V, et al.
    Southeast Asian J. Trop. Med. Public Health, 2003 Dec;34(4):727-32.
    PMID: 15115079
    The objective of this study was to characterize the polypeptides associated with cysts of Blastocystis hominis. This form is believed to be infective and plays a role in parasite resistance to anti-B. hominis drugs currently used for treatment of Blastocystis associated diarrhea. Cysts were induced through in vitro culture of the parasite in complete medium supplemented with bacterial extract with trypticase, metronidazole or doxycycline. SDS-PAGE analysis showed almost similar polypeptide patterns of parasite extracts obtained from in vitro cultured parasites before and after exposure with the three supplements. Polypeptide bands at 76, 58.5, 48, 45, 40, 38, 32, 25 and 22 kDa were constantly seen in all antigenic preparations and no specific cyst-associated polypeptide was present. However, on immunoblot analysis, 3 out of 16 blastocystosis human sera identified a cyst-associated polypeptide at 60 kDa in all parasite extracts prepared from cultures with the three supplements. In addition, there were associated morphological changes detected in these parasites stained with acridine orange and observed under fluorescence microscopy. Metronidazole induced cyst forms (reddish cells) as early as 12 hours post-exposure; more cyst production (with stronger immunoblot bands) occurred after 24 hours exposure. However, cysts rupture with release and destruction of B. hominis daughters cells occurred after 48 hours exposure. Doxycycline induced less cyst-like forms at 24 hours (weaker 60 kDa band) and less destruction of the cysts (60 kDa band still present at 72 hours post exposure). Bacterial extract and trypticase also induced cysts at 12 hours with increasing numbers up to 72 hours exposure (corresponding increase in intensity of 60 kDa band from samples harvested at 12 to 72 hours post exposure) without any sign of deleterious effect on the parasite.
    Matched MeSH terms: Blastocystis Infections/drug therapy; Blastocystis Infections/parasitology*; Blastocystis hominis/drug effects; Blastocystis hominis/physiology*
  15. Fulltext A Review of Quercus infectoria (Olivier) Galls as a Resource for Anti-parasitic Agents: In Vitro and In Vivo Studies
    Zin NNINM, Rahimi WNAWM, Bakar NA
    Malays J Med Sci, 2019 Nov;26(6):19-34.
    PMID: 31908584 MyJurnal DOI: 10.21315/mjms2019.26.6.3
    Parasitic diseases represent one of the causes for significant global economic, environmental and public health impacts. The efficacy of currently available anti-parasitic drugs has been threatened by the emergence of single drug- or multidrug-resistant parasite populations, vector threats and high cost of drug development. Therefore, the discovery of more potent anti-parasitic drugs coming from medicinal plants such as Quercus infectoria is seen as a major approach to tackle the problem. A systematic review was conducted to assess the efficacy of Q. infectoria in treating parasitic diseases both in vitro and in vivo due to the lack of such reviews on the anti-parasitic activities of this plant. This review consisted of intensive searches from three databases including PubMed, Science Direct and Scopus. Articles were selected throughout the years, limited to English language and fully documented. A total of 454 potential articles were identified, but only four articles were accepted to be evaluated based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Although there were insufficient pieces of evidence to account for the efficacy of Q. infectoria against the parasites, this plant appears to have anti-leishmanial, anti-blastocystis and anti-amoebic activities. More studies in vitro and in vivo are warranted to further validate the anti-parasitic efficacy of Q. infectoria.
    Matched MeSH terms: Blastocystis
  16. Fulltext Comparison of apoptotic responses in Blastocystis sp. upon treatment with Tongkat Ali and Metronidazole
    Girish S, Kumar S, Aminudin N, Hashim NM
    Sci Rep, 2021 04 09;11(1):7833.
    PMID: 33837230 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-81418-x
    Blastocystis sp. infection, although many remain asymptomatic, there is growing data in recent studies that suggests it is a frequent cause of gastrointestinal symptoms in children and adults. This proposes that treatment against this infection is necessary however metronidazole (MTZ), which is the current choice of treatment, has expressed non-uniformity in its efficacy in combating this infection which has led to the study of alternative treatment. In our previous study, it was established that Tongkat Ali fractions exhibited promising anti-protozoal properties which leads to the current aim of the study, to further narrow down the purification process in order to identify the specific active compound promoting the anti-protozoal effect through HPLC analysis. Based on the data analysis and in-vitro susceptibility assay, the collected Tongkat Ali fraction that demonstrated anti-blastocystis property was shown to contain eurycomanone. Previous studies have suggested that there is a mechanism in Blastocystis sp. that regulates the apoptotic process to produce higher number of viable cells when treated. In reference to this, our current study also aims to investigate the apoptotic response of Tongkat Ali extract and eurycomanone across different subtype groups with comparison to MTZ. Based on our investigation, both Tongkat Ali extract and eurycomanone induced the high apoptotic rate however exhibited a reduction in viable cell count (p 
    Matched MeSH terms: Blastocystis Infections/parasitology*; Blastocystis/drug effects*; Blastocystis/isolation & purification; Blastocystis/metabolism
  17. Blastocystis hominis: Kehadirannya di dalam sampel feses kanak-kanak orang asli di Pos Lenjang, Pahang, Malaysia
    Mohamed Kamel Abd. Ghani, Hartini Yusof
    Sains Malaysiana, 2011;40:1123-1127.
    Blastocystis hominis merupakan antara protozoa yang paling biasa ditemui di dalam sampel feses manusia di seluruh dunia. Prevalens infeksi protozoa ini adalah lebih tinggi di kalangan mereka yang tinggal di negara membangun berbanding negara maju. Seramai 71 orang kanak-kanak Orang Asli dari Pos Lenjang, Pahang telah menjadi subjek dalam kajian ini. Bagi kajian yang lebih terperinci, kumpulan kanak-kanak ini telah dibahagikan menurut jantina dan umur. Sampel feses dikumpul dan setiap sampel diperiksa dengan menggunakan 3 teknik diagnostik iaitu teknik apusan langsung, konsentrasi formalin-eter dan perwarnaan trikrom bagi tujuan pengesanan dan pengenalpastian Blastocystis hominis. Prevalens infeksi Blastocystis hominis di kalangan kanak-kanak Orang Asli adalah sangat tinggi iaitu 93%. Kanak-kanak perempuan didapati lebih ramai terinfeksi (97.5%) berbanding kanak-kanak lelaki (87.1%) walaupun secara statistiknya tidak signifikan (p>0.05). Protozoa ini juga telah menginfeksi kesemua kanak-kanak prasekolah (100%) manakala kanak-kanak yang bersekolah turut menunjukkan prevalens infeksi yang tinggi iaitu 86.5%. Daripada segi diagnosis, teknik perwarnaan trikrom didapati paling sensitif dan ia dapat mengenalpasti kesemua (66) sampel feses yang positif dengan Blastocystis hominis. Ini diikuti dengan teknik konsentrasi formalin-eter (43 sampel) dan teknik apusan langsung (18 sampel) (p<0.05). Prevalens infeksi Blastocystis hominis yang tinggi di kalangan kanak-kanak Orang Asli adalah berhubungkait dengan pelbagai faktor termasuk status sosioekonomi yang rendah, budaya, kekurangan kemudahan asas dan tahap pengetahuan mengenai penjagaan kesihatan serta kebersihan diri yang rendah. Selain itu, peningkatan prevalens infeksi dalam kajian ini menunjukkan pentingnya penggunaan teknik diagnostik yang lebih berkesan di dalam pemeriksaan rutin bagi memperolehi hasil diagnosis yang lebih tepat.
    Matched MeSH terms: Blastocystis hominis
  18. Fulltext Stress exacerbates infectivity and pathogenicity of Blastocystis hominis: in vitro and in vivo evidences
    Chandramathi S, Suresh K, Sivanandam S, Kuppusamy UR
    PLoS One, 2014;9(5):e94567.
    PMID: 24788756 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0094567
    Stress alters the oxidant-antioxidant state and immune cell responses which disrupts its function to combat infection. Blastocystis hominis, a common intestinal protozoan has been reported to be opportunistic in immunocompromised patients namely cancer. B. hominis infectivity in other altered immune system conditions especially stress is unknown. We aimed to demonstrate the stress effects towards the susceptibility and pathogenicity of B. hominis infection.
    Matched MeSH terms: Blastocystis Infections/blood; Blastocystis Infections/immunology; Blastocystis Infections/physiopathology; Blastocystis Infections/psychology; Blastocystis hominis/pathogenicity*; Blastocystis hominis/physiology
  19. Fulltext Subtype distribution of Blastocystis isolates in Sebha, Libya
    Abdulsalam AM, Ithoi I, Al-Mekhlafi HM, Al-Mekhlafi AM, Ahmed A, Surin J
    PLoS One, 2013;8(12):e84372.
    PMID: 24376805 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0084372
    BACKGROUND: Blastocystis is a genetically diverse and a common intestinal parasite of humans with a controversial pathogenic potential. This study was carried out to identify the Blastocystis subtypes and their association with demographic and socioeconomic factors among outpatients living in Sebha city, Libya.

    METHODS/FINDINGS: Blastocystis in stool samples were cultured followed by isolation, PCR amplification of a partial SSU rDNA gene, cloning, and sequencing. The DNA sequences of isolated clones showed 98.3% to 100% identity with the reference Blastocystis isolates from the Genbank. Multiple sequence alignment showed polymorphism from one to seven base substitution and/or insertion/deletion in several groups of non-identical nucleotides clones. Phylogenetic analysis revealed three assemblage subtypes (ST) with ST1 as the most prevalent (51.1%) followed by ST2 (24.4%), ST3 (17.8%) and mixed infections of two concurrent subtypes (6.7%).

    BLASTOCYSTIS: ST1 infection was significantly associated with female (P = 0.009) and low educational level (P = 0.034). ST2 was also significantly associated with low educational level (P= 0.008) and ST3 with diarrhoea (P = 0.008).

    CONCLUSION: Phylogenetic analysis of Libyan Blastocystis isolates identified three different subtypes; with ST1 being the predominant subtype and its infection was significantly associated with female gender and low educational level. More extensive studies are needed in order to relate each Blastocystis subtype with clinical symptoms and potential transmission sources in this community.

    Matched MeSH terms: Blastocystis Infections/epidemiology*; Blastocystis/genetics*; Blastocystis/pathogenicity
  20. Fulltext Blastocystis sp. in Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)--Detection in Stool Aspirates during Colonoscopy
    Ragavan ND, Kumar S, Chye TT, Mahadeva S, Shiaw-Hooi H
    PLoS One, 2015;10(9):e0121173.
    PMID: 26375823 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0121173
    Blastocystis is one of the most common gut parasites found in the intestinal tract of humans and animals. Its' association with IBS is controversial, possibly as a result of irregular shedding of parasites in stool and variation in stool detection. We aimed to screen for Blastocystis in colonic stool aspirate samples in adult patients with and without IBS undergoing colonoscopy for various indications and measure the interleukin levels (IL-8, IL-3 and IL-5). In addition to standard stool culture techniques, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques were employed to detect and subtype Blastocystis. All the serum samples collected were subjected for ELISA studies to measure the interleukin levels (IL-8, IL-3 and IL-5). Among 109 (IBS n = 35 and non-IBS n = 74) adults, direct stool examination and culture of colonic aspirates were initially negative for Blastocystis. However, PCR analysis detected Blastocystis in 6 (17%) IBS and 4 (5.5%) non-IBS patients. In the six positive IBS patients by PCR method, subtype 3 was shown to be the most predominant (3/6: 50%) followed by subtype 4 (2/6; 33.3%) and subtype 5 (1/6; 16.6%). IL-8 levels were significantly elevated in the IBS Blasto group and IBS group (p<0.05) compared to non-IBS and non-IBS Blasto group. The level of IL-3 in were seen to be significantly higher in than IBS Blasto group and IBS group (p<0.05) compared to non-IBS. Meanwhile, the IL-5 levels were significantly higher in IBS Blasto group (p<0.05) compared to non-IBS and non-IBS Blasto group. This study implicates that detecting Blastosystis by PCR method using colonic aspirate samples during colonoscopy, suggests that this may be a better method for sample collection due to the parasite's irregular shedding in Blastocystis-infected stools. Patients with IBS infected with parasite showed an increase in the interleukin levels demonstrate that Blastocystis does have an effect in the immune system.
    Matched MeSH terms: Blastocystis/isolation & purification*; Blastocystis/physiology
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