Frequency of Microsporidium spp in Immunocompromised Individuals

Background: Microsporidium spp includes a group of obligate intracellular organisms that affect a
wide range of hosts, including humans. The most common genres in human are Enterocytozoon spp
and Encephalitozoon spp. Microsporidium are generally associated with immunocompromised
patients; however, microsporidiosis is increasing in immunocompetent individuals. The aim of this
work was to determine the frequency of Microsporidium spp in stool from immunocompromised
patients with different gastrointestinal symptoms and pathologies.
Methods: Fecal samples from 207 children with different pathologies and gastrointestinal symptoms
and 109 adult diagnosed with HIV were studied using Faust's coproparasitoscopic method (CPS),
staining and molecular techniques, the results were compared by age, disease and genre. A
diagnosis of microsporidiosis was made by microscopy after staining with Lugol and Ziehl-Neelsen
and a fragment of 18s ribosomal gene was amplified by PCR.
Results: From 207 analyzed samples of children, 68 patients (32.85%) had diarrhea and
Microsporidium was present in 34 cases (16.42%). From 109 HIV patients samples, 13 (11.92%) of
the patients presented diarrhea and 19 (17.43%) were positive for Microsporidium spp. Other
parasites were found in both groups as Cryptosporidium spp, Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia
intestinalisand several helminthes.
Conclusions: Infection with Microsporidium was found in a substantial proportion of samples from the
analyzed groups. Moleculartechniques are vital for the early diagnosis of intestinal microsporidiosis,
which is still a serious health problem in the world, especially among vulnerable populations as
immunosuppressed patients and habitantsin poor and rural areas with less economic development.