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      Identification of Blastocystis subtypes in clinical stool samples from Sao Paulo City, Brazil

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          SUMMARY

          Blastocystis sp. is a protozoan commonly found in human and animal stool samples. Several pathogenic and zoonotic aspects of this organism are still unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate Blastocystis subtypes (STs) in samples from patients of the Hospital das Clínicas of the Faculdade de Medicina at the Universidade de São Paulo (HC-FMUSP), Brazil. Blastocystis sp.-positive stool samples diagnosed at the Section of Parasitology of the Central Laboratory (HC-FMUSP) were used for DNA isolation. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed using specific primers targeting the small-subunit rRNA gene. Direct DNA sequencing of the PCR products was performed and the DNA sequences were then aligned and compared with other sequences obtained from the GenBank database. Phylogenetic analysis was used to identify STs and determine the phylogenetic relationships between the sequences. Four STs were identified: ST1 (22·5%), ST2 (12·5%), ST3 (60%) and ST6 (5%). In conclusion, ST3 was the most prevalent ST among the human isolates followed by ST1. The present study is one of the few providing STs data from the human population in South America. Determining ST prevalence in human samples may contribute to the monitoring of Blastocystis sp. infection transmission in endemic regions.

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          New insights on classification, identification, and clinical relevance of Blastocystis spp.

          Blastocystis is an unusual enteric protozoan parasite of humans and many animals. It has a worldwide distribution and is often the most commonly isolated organism in parasitological surveys. The parasite has been described since the early 1900s, but only in the last decade or so have there been significant advances in our understanding of Blastocystis biology. However, the pleomorphic nature of the parasite and the lack of standardization in techniques have led to confusion and, in some cases, misinterpretation of data. This has hindered laboratory diagnosis and efforts to understand its mode of reproduction, life cycle, prevalence, and pathogenesis. Accumulating epidemiological, in vivo, and in vitro data strongly suggest that Blastocystis is a pathogen. Many genotypes exist in nature, and recent observations indicate that humans are, in reality, hosts to numerous zoonotic genotypes. Such genetic diversity has led to a suggestion that previously conflicting observations on the pathogenesis of Blastocystis are due to pathogenic and nonpathogenic genotypes. Recent epidemiological, animal infection, and in vitro host-Blastocystis interaction studies suggest that this may indeed be the case. This review focuses on such recent advances and also provides updates on laboratory and clinical aspects of Blastocystis spp.
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            DNA barcoding of blastocystis.

            We have developed a simple method for subtyping the intestinal protistan parasite Blastocystis using an approach equivalent to DNA barcoding in animals. Amplification of a 600 bp region of the small subunit ribosomal RNA gene followed by single primer sequencing of the PCR product provides enough data to assign isolates to specific subtypes unambiguously. We believe that this approach will prove useful in future epidemiological studies.
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              Geographic distribution of human Blastocystis subtypes in South America.

              Blastocystis is a cosmopolitan enteric protist colonizing probably more than 1 billion people. This protozoan exhibits genetic diversity and is subdivided into subtypes (STs). The aim of this study was to determine the distribution of Blastocystis STs in symptomatic and asymptomatic human samples from different countries of South America. A total of 346 fecal samples were genotyped by SSU rDNA showing ST1 (28.3%), ST2 (22.2%), ST3 (36.7%), ST4 (2%), ST5 (2.3%), ST6 (2%), ST7 (2.3%), ST8 (0.6%), ST12 (0.9%) and a novel ST (2.7%). These findings update the epidemiology of Blastocystis in South America and expand our knowledge of the phylogeographic differences exhibited by this stramenopile.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                applab
                Parasitology Open
                Parasitology Open
                Cambridge University Press (CUP)
                2055-7094
                2017
                March 21 2017
                2017
                : 3
                Article
                10.1017/pao.2017.3
                540abe6c-ebd9-45c2-bd02-4ab7e23aad8e
                © 2017
                History

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