Stensvold C Rune, Clark C Graham
Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark.
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
Parasitol Int. 2016 Dec;65(6 Pt B):763-771. doi: 10.1016/j.parint.2016.05.015. Epub 2016 May 28.
Despite Blastocystis being one of the most widespread and prevalent intestinal eukaryotes, its role in health and disease remains elusive. DNA-based detection methods have led to a recognition that the organism is much more common than previously thought, at least in some geographic regions and some groups of individuals. Molecular methods have also enabled us to start categorizing the vast genetic heterogeneity that exists among Blastocystis isolates, wherein the key to potential differences in the clinical outcome of Blastocystis carriage may lie. In this review we summarize some of the recent developments and advances in Blastocystis research, including updates on diagnostic methods, molecular epidemiology, genetic diversity, host specificity, clinical significance, taxonomy, and genomics. As we are now in the microbiome era, we also review some of the steps taken towards understanding the place of Blastocystis in the intestinal microbiota.
尽管芽囊原虫是最广泛流行的肠道真核生物之一，但其在健康与疾病中的作用仍不明确。基于DNA的检测方法使人们认识到，该生物体比之前认为的更为常见，至少在某些地理区域和某些个体群体中是这样。分子方法还使我们能够开始对芽囊原虫分离株中存在的巨大遗传异质性进行分类，而这可能是芽囊原虫携带临床结果潜在差异的关键所在。在这篇综述中，我们总结了芽囊原虫研究的一些最新进展，包括诊断方法、分子流行病学、遗传多样性、宿主特异性、临床意义、分类学和基因组学方面的更新。由于我们现在处于微生物组时代，我们还回顾了在理解芽囊原虫在肠道微生物群中地位方面所采取的一些步骤。
