Centro Nacional de Secuenciación Genómica CNSG, Sede de Investigación Universitaria-SIU, Medellín, Colombia; Departamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia; Grupo Pediaciencias, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia.
Grupo de Microbiología ambiental, Escuela de Microbiología, Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia.
Infect Genet Evol. 2023 Sep;113:105478. doi: 10.1016/j.meegid.2023.105478. Epub 2023 Jul 4.
Blastocystis sp., is an intestinal protist with a broad host range and a high prevalence in human populations worldwide, even in developed Western countries. The publication of conflicting evidence has divided the scientific community about the pathogenic role of this parasite. Even though, genetic studies on Blastocystis sp. revealed associations between genotypes and different pathogenic profiles. Conventionally, the detection of this parasite is based on microscopic or PCR methods, which offer meager or null performance in detecting mixed infections. In this work, we applied a metataxonomic NGS approach targeting the V4 region of the eukaryotic SSU-rRNA gene and classical phylogenetic methods. This approach allowed us to detect Blastocystis sp. in stool samples from infected children living in an urban setting in the city of Medellin attending the same daycare center. Phylogenetic analysis identified the subtypes present in the children as ST1, ST2, and ST3. Besides, mixed infections of subtypes ST1 + ST3 were spotted in 16% of the analyzed stool samples.
芽囊原虫是一种肠道原生动物，宿主范围广泛，在全球人类中普遍存在，甚至在发达的西方国家也是如此。芽囊原虫具有致病性的相关证据相互矛盾，这一观点在科学界引起了分歧。尽管如此，芽囊原虫的遗传学研究表明基因型与不同的致病特征之间存在关联。传统上，这种寄生虫的检测基于显微镜或 PCR 方法，但在检测混合感染方面表现不佳或为零。在这项工作中，我们应用了一种针对真核生物 SSU-rRNA 基因 V4 区的分类群 NGS 方法和经典的系统发育方法。该方法使我们能够在居住在麦德林市同一日托中心的城市环境中受感染的儿童的粪便样本中检测到芽囊原虫。系统发育分析确定了儿童中存在的亚型为 ST1、ST2 和 ST3。此外，在分析的 16%粪便样本中发现了亚型 ST1+ST3 的混合感染。
