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Detection of unusual Cryptosporidium parvum subtype in patients with gastrointestinal cancer in Egypt
While the importance of cryptosporidiosis in immunocompromised persons is well known, the prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp. in cancer patients is not clear. The current study was designed to assess the occurrence and genetic characteristics of Cryptosporidium spp. in patients with gastrointestinal...
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Published in: | Parasitology research (1987) 2023-02, Vol.122 (2), p.597-606 |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Subjects: | |
Citations: | Items that this one cites Items that cite this one |
Online Access: | Get full text |
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Summary: | While the importance of cryptosporidiosis in immunocompromised persons is well known, the prevalence of
Cryptosporidium
spp. in cancer patients is not clear. The current study was designed to assess the occurrence and genetic characteristics of
Cryptosporidium
spp. in patients with gastrointestinal (GI) cancer in Egypt. Stool samples were collected from 100 patients with GI malignancies and 20 healthy individuals without any GI manifestations (control group). They were screened by microscopy and the immunochromatographic RIDA®QUICK
Cryptosporidium
kit. Subtyping of
Cryptosporidium
spp. was conducted by sequence analysis of the glycoprotein 60 (
gp60
) locus. Sociodemographic, environmental data and information on GI symptoms, cancer types, and clinical treatment were obtained via a questionnaire. By microscopy and RIDA®QUICK, only 7% (7/100) of GI cancer patients were positive for
Cryptosporidium
, compared with 40% (40/100) by
gp60
nPCR. No positives were obtained from the control group. Male sex (
P
= 0.02) and younger age (
P
= 0.004) were major
Cryptosporidium
risk factors for infection. The occurrence of
Cryptosporidium
was also significantly more frequent (
P
= 0.003) in watery stool samples. Sequence analysis of the
gp60
amplicons (~ 400 bp) identified a novel
C. parvum
subtype with nine TCA repeats and eleven ACATCA repeats. A formal subtype designation could not be made due to the short sequence length. More studies should be conducted to verify the common occurrence of this unusual
C. parvum
subtype and establish its genetic identity. |
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ISSN: | 0932-0113 1432-1955 |
DOI: | 10.1007/s00436-022-07761-8 |