Ghatee Mohammad Amin, Nakhaei Maryam, Sharifpour Ali, Fakhar Mahdi, Mohamadi Niloufar, Soleymani Mostafa, Abedi Siavash, Aliyali Masoud, Mehravaran Hossein
Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Yasuj University of Medical Sciences, Yasuj, Iran.
Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Yasuj University of Medical Sciences, Yasuj, Iran.
J Parasitol Res. 2023 Jun 7;2023:1039186. doi: 10.1155/2023/1039186. eCollection 2023.
Bronchopulmonary lophomoniasis (BPL) is a protozoan pulmonary disease that has been reported sporadically, but its incidence has been increasing. However, the epidemiology and risk factors of the disease have not been clearly identified. The current study aims to identify BPL cases molecularly and assess the demographic and some environmental factors for the first time on the prevalence of BPL as a national registry-based study in Iran. . The study tested 960 patients with lower respiratory tract symptoms whose bronchoalveolar lavage samples were submitted from seven provinces of Iran to the Iranian National Registry Center for Lophomoniasis. They were tested for BPL by a newly developed polymerase chain reaction test. The study assessed the association of Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), digital elevation model (DEM), and geographic latitude as environmental factors and sex and age as demographic factors on the prevalence of BPL. Geospatial information systems methods and chi-squared and Pearson's correlation tests were used for the assessment of geographical and environmental factor effects and statistical analysis, respectively.
Of the 960 patients, 218 (22.7%) tested positive for BPL; the highest and lowest prevalence rates were reported from the south and northeast of Iran, respectively. The study found a correlation between geographic latitude and age with BPL prevalence, but no association was found for gender, NDVI, or DEM. Most patients were over 40 years old, and the rate of disease was higher in southern latitudes.
Age and geographical latitude were found to be risk factors for BPL. More exposure to dust and/or chronic pulmonary problems may explain the higher prevalence of the disease in older adults. Higher rates of BPL in lower latitudes may be due to warmer weather and longer days, which can confine individual activities indoors and result in more contact with domestic insects and infected dust.
支气管肺洛蒙虫病（BPL）是一种原生动物肺部疾病，此前有零星报道，但发病率呈上升趋势。然而，该疾病的流行病学和危险因素尚未明确。本项基于伊朗全国登记系统的研究旨在首次通过分子方法识别BPL病例，并评估人口统计学和一些环境因素对BPL患病率的影响。该研究对960例有下呼吸道症状的患者进行了检测，这些患者的支气管肺泡灌洗样本从伊朗的七个省份提交至伊朗国家洛蒙虫病登记中心。通过一种新开发的聚合酶链反应检测对他们进行BPL检测。该研究评估了归一化植被指数（NDVI）、数字高程模型（DEM）和地理纬度等环境因素以及性别和年龄等人口统计学因素与BPL患病率之间的关联。分别使用地理信息系统方法以及卡方检验和皮尔逊相关检验来评估地理和环境因素的影响及进行统计分析。
960例患者中，218例（22.7%）BPL检测呈阳性；伊朗南部和东北部的患病率分别为最高和最低。该研究发现地理纬度和年龄与BPL患病率之间存在相关性，但未发现性别、NDVI或DEM与患病率之间存在关联。大多数患者年龄超过40岁，且南部纬度地区的发病率更高。
年龄和地理纬度被发现是BPL的危险因素。更多地接触灰尘和/或慢性肺部问题可能解释了老年人中该疾病的较高患病率。较低纬度地区BPL发病率较高可能是由于天气温暖、白昼较长，这会使个人活动局限于室内，从而导致更多地接触家中昆虫和受感染的灰尘。
