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Distribution and relevance of Dientamoeba fragilis and Blastocystis species in gastroenteritis: results from a case-control study
The actual role of Dientamoeba fragilis and Blastocystis in patients with gastrointestinal symptoms is still under debate. A multicenter case-control study was performed in The Netherlands to elucidate the clinical relevance of molecular diagnostics results in gastroenteritis (GE). Samples from this...
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Published in: | European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases 2020, Vol.39 (1), p.197-203 |
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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: | The actual role of
Dientamoeba fragilis
and
Blastocystis
in patients with gastrointestinal symptoms is still under debate. A multicenter case-control study was performed in The Netherlands to elucidate the clinical relevance of molecular diagnostics results in gastroenteritis (GE). Samples from this case-control study were used to perform a detailed analysis on the presence of
D. fragilis
and
Blastocystis
in relation to gastrointestinal symptoms. In the present study, a real-time PCR for
Blastocystis
was performed on 1374 case samples and 1026 control samples from the multicenter gastroenteritis case-control study previously tested for
D. fragilis
. Prevalence of both micro-organisms was highest in children under 20 years of age and lowest in the oldest age group. A significantly lower overall detection of
D. fragilis
and
Blastocystis
was found in cases (both 25.8%) as compared to controls (37.6% and 40.0%, respectively). The difference for
D. fragilis
was statistically significant for subjects above 20 years of age. For
Blastocystis
, the difference was statistically significant in all age groups, except in children less than 5 years of age. A negative relation between
D. fragilis
-positive cases and diarrhea was found in this study population. More GE symptoms were reported in cases without
D. fragilis
or
Blastocystis
. In the present study, prevalence of both
D. fragilis
and
Blastocystis
is lower in cases with gastroenteritic symptoms than in controls. Besides, in cases with
D. fragilis
or
Blastocystis
, no association is shown between any of the GE symptoms. Interestingly, this suggests that the presence of these protozoans may be considered characteristic of a healthy intestinal microbiome. |
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ISSN: | 0934-9723 1435-4373 |
DOI: | 10.1007/s10096-019-03710-z |