Feconomics®; a new and more convenient method, the routine diagnosis of intestinal parasitic infections.

Direct wet mount examination and concentration are the most commonly used methods for detecting intestinal parasites from fecal samples. Concentration methods are used when there are fewer protozoan cyst, coccidian oocyst, microsporidial spore, helminth egg, and larvae in the fecal samples. Early detection of the causative intestinal parasites plays a significant role in implementing timely and correct treatment, which relieves the patients' symptoms and also prevents recurrences. Formalin-ethyl acetate concentration (FEAC) is believed to be a gold standard method to detect most intestinal parasites. Thus, in this study, we evaluated the diagnostic value of Feconomics® [manufactured by Salubris Inc, Boston, USA. Patent application number (TR): 2010/07549] which is a simple, new, and rapid fecal concentration method for the detection of the intestinal parasites in human beings. We also compared the FEAC with Feconomics® and direct wet mount examination. A total of 918 fecal samples were collected from the patients suspected to have intestinal parasitic infection. Samples were examined with the direct wet mount, FEAC, and Feconomics® methods. Different parasite species 15.9% (146/918) with Feconomics®, 13.3% (122/918) with FEAC, and 9.8% (90/918) with direct wet mount examination, Feconomics® > FEAC > direct wet mount examinations were detected. They were statistically compared considering FEAC as the gold standard for parasitological diagnosis; the sensitivity and specificity of Feconomics® were calculated as 96 and 97%, respectively. Blastocystis hominis was found to be the most common parasite, followed by Giardia lamblia with direct wet mount examination, FEAC, and Feconomics® methods. Feconomics® proved to be better than not only FEAC in concentrating parasite egg and cyst forms as well as in maintaining characteristic morphology but it is also better in direct wet mount examination. Feconomics® eliminates the need for centrifugation by using absorbent beads that help the homogenization and concentration of the sample. Feconomics® in this study was considerably better than FEAC in detecting the trophozoites of Giardia lamblia. We suggest that Feconomics® be used for the routine diagnosis of intestinal parasitic infection in rural areas of developing countries due to the fact that a centrifuge is not required and it eliminates large stool particles.

Investigation of Cryptosporidium spp. antigen by ELISA method in stool specimens obtained from patients with diarrhea.

Cryptosporidium spp. is an important parasitic protozoan causing diarrhea in developing and developed countries. The agent causes severe life-threatening diarrhea especially in immunocompromised hosts. Diagnosis of the Cryptosporidium oocyst in stool samples by conventional microscopy is labor-intensive and time-consuming. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the usefulness of a copro-antigen enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test in detecting Cryptosporidium spp. from fecal specimens. For this aim, microscopy and specific antigen detection methods were compared to determine Cryptosporidium spp. In addition, specific antigen by ELISA method in stool was investigated in order to find out whether or not it contributes to the diagnosis of Cryptosporidium spp. One hundred and fifty-four stool specimens taken from patients whose ages ranged from 0 to 86 with diarrhea applied to Department of Parasitology, Balcali Hospital of Cukurova University in Adana, Turkey were used. All samples were examined for Cryptosporidium spp. antigen by ELISA and oocysts via gold standard modified acid-fast staining, between October 2008 and July 2009. Eight (5.19%) specimens were found to be positive by modified acid-fast staining method and 37 (24.03%) specimens by copro-antigen ELISA method were found to be positive. The sensitivity and specificity for copro-antigen ELISA were 100% and 80.1%, respectively. The results of copro-antigen ELISA indicate that the simple, rapid, reliable, and standardized immunoassay test is sensitive and specific for routine diagnosis and may be useful for large-scale epidemiological studies of cryptosporidiosis.

Identification of Blastocystis hominis isolates from asymptomatic and symptomatic patients by PCR.

Despite years of study, the pathogenic role of Blastocytis hominis is still controversial. Genotypic differences between the asymptomatic and symptomatic isolates should assist in determining the pathogenicity of Blastocystis. In this study, we genotyped 32 Blastocystis isolates obtained from 12 asymptomatic healthy individuals and 20 symptomatic patients pain by polymerase chain reaction using known seven kinds of sequence tagged site primers in this study. When we compared genotype of Blastocystis isolates between the symptomatic and asymptomatic patient group, we found that subtype3 is the most dominant genotype in asymptomatic individual (9/12) and subtype1 determined all of symptomatic patients (20/20).