Prevalence of Blastocystis and Dientamoeba fragilis in diarrheal patients in Corum, Türkiye

Gureser A.S. Karasartova D. Sarzhanov F. Kosar N. Taylan-Ozkan A. Dogruman-Al F.
December 2023 Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH

Parasitology Research
2023 #122 Issue 12 2977 - 2987 pp.

To investigate the prevalence of Blastocystis and Dientamoeba fragilis in diarrhea patients and healthy individuals in Corum, Türkiye, fecal samples from 92 diarrhea patients and 50 healthy individuals were collected and evaluated using direct microscopy and molecular methods to screen for bacteria, protozoa, and viruses. The prevalence of Blastocystis was 24.6% in total and more frequent in the healthy group (30.0%). The commonly detected STs (subtypes) were ST3 (40.0%) and ST2 (34.2%). The distribution of Blastocystis STs in the healthy and diarrheal groups did not show any difference in sex and age, but ST3 was detected more frequently in patients aged from 40 to 59 years (p < 0.05). Alleles 4 (8/12) and 2 (4/12) were present in ST1; 9 (3/5) and 12 (2/5) in ST2; 34 (9/14), 36 (3/14), and 38 (2/14) in ST3; and only allele 42 (2/2) in ST4. D. fragilis was present in 8.4% of the population. However, there was no statistically significant difference between the healthy and diarrheic groups (12.0% and 6.5%, respectively), neither with respect to age nor sex. Co-infection was 58.3% and was more frequent in healthy individuals (33.3%) than in diarrhea patients (25.0%). Blastocystis ST3 was the most common subtype detected, with D. fragilis at 33.3%. Salmonella, Shigella, or helminth eggs were not observed in all groups, but Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia intestinalis, Cryptosporidium, Rotavirus, Adenovirus, and Clostridium difficile toxin were found only in diarrhea patients. These findings support the hypothesis that Blastocystis and D. fragilis may be part of the healthy human gut microbiome.

Blastocystis Dientamoeba fragilis , Blastocystis STs , Diarrheal patients , Türkiye

Text of the article Перейти на текст статьи

Department of Medical Microbiology, Abdurrahman Yurtaslan Ankara Oncology Training and Research Hospital, Ministry of Health, Ankara, Turkey
Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Hitit University, Corum, Turkey
Faculty of Medicine, Khoja Akhmet Yassawi International Kazakh-Turkish University, Turkistan, Kazakhstan
Division of Medical Parasitology, Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey
Microbiology Laboratory, Erbaa Governmental Hospital, Tokat, Turkey
Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, TOBB-University of Economics and Technology, Ankara, Turkey

Department of Medical Microbiology
Department of Medical Microbiology
Faculty of Medicine
Division of Medical Parasitology
Microbiology Laboratory
Department of Medical Microbiology

10 лет помогаем публиковать статьи Международный издатель

Книга Публикация научной статьи Волощук 2026 Book Publication of a scientific article 2026