Fakhar Mahdi, Hosseininejad Zahra, Sharifpour Ali, Hosseini Fatemeh Z, Zakariaei Zakaria
Iranian National Registry Center for Lophomoniasis and Toxoplasmosis, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran.
Lung India. 2025 Mar 1;42(2):109-114. doi: 10.4103/lungindia.lungindia_518_24. Epub 2025 Feb 27.
Lophomonas blattarum is an emerging protozoan agent that mainly causes pulmonary lophomoniasis. Given that cigarette smokers are predisposed to various diseases while some conditions are less common among them, the current study aimed to compare the relationship between smoking status and the prevalence of pulmonary lophomoniasis in patients registered at the Iranian National Registry Center for Lophomoniasis (INRCL). Additionally, we examined common risk factors associated with Lophomonas infection among these registered subjects.
This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional registry-based study was conducted on 600 registered subjects through microscopic examination (wet mount smears) and conventional polymerase chain reaction assay between 2021 and 2023. We analysed the smoking status and smoking intensity of 135 Lophomonas-positive patients and 465 Lophomonas-negative patients who were referred to the INRCL. Baseline data were collected from participants using a questionnaire.
Our results showed the prevalence of Lophomonas infection among enrolled subjects was estimated to be 22.5% (135/600). Also, we studied 135 Lophomonas positive patients (male = 92, female = 43). Furthermore, most patients testing positive for Lophomonas (74.8%; 101/135) also had at least one comorbidity condition. Our findings showed a statistically significant occurrence of Lophomonas infection among non-smokers (70.4%; n = 95), in contrast to smokers (29.6%; n = 40) (P = 0.001). Correspondingly, among the 40 Lophomonas-positive smokers, the majority (62.5%) were classified as light smokers. Moreover, based on the multiple logistic regressions, Lophomonas infection was 2.123, 3.142, and 2.353 times higher in men compared to women, patients aged 51-70 years compared to other age groups, and non-smokers compared to cigarette smokers, respectively (P = 0.001).
Our findings reveal that Lophomonas infection is significantly lower among cigarette smokers compared to nonsmokers. Our data shed light on a new hypothesis about lophomoniasis among smokers. Further research is needed to assess the role of smoking in the pathophysiology of lophomoniasis.
蜚蠊披发虫是一种新出现的原生动物病原体，主要引起肺披发虫病。鉴于吸烟者易患多种疾病，而某些疾病在他们中不太常见，本研究旨在比较吸烟状况与在伊朗国家披发虫病登记中心（INRCL）登记的患者中肺披发虫病患病率之间的关系。此外，我们还研究了这些登记对象中与披发虫感染相关的常见危险因素。
本项基于登记的描述性分析横断面研究，于2021年至2023年期间，通过显微镜检查（湿涂片）和常规聚合酶链反应检测，对600名登记对象进行了研究。我们分析了转诊至INRCL的135名披发虫阳性患者和465名披发虫阴性患者的吸烟状况和吸烟强度。使用问卷从参与者那里收集基线数据。
我们的结果显示，登记对象中披发虫感染的患病率估计为22.5%（135/600）。此外，我们研究了135名披发虫阳性患者（男性 = 92名，女性 = 43名）。此外，大多数披发虫检测呈阳性的患者（74.8%；101/135）也至少有一种合并症。我们的研究结果显示，与吸烟者（29.6%；n = 40）相比，非吸烟者中披发虫感染的发生率具有统计学意义（70.4%；n = 95）（P = 0.001）。相应地，在40名披发虫阳性吸烟者中，大多数（62.5%）被归类为轻度吸烟者。此外，基于多元逻辑回归分析，男性、51 - 70岁的患者以及非吸烟者感染披发虫的几率分别比女性、其他年龄组的患者以及吸烟者高2.123倍、3.142倍和2.353倍（P = 0.001）。
我们的研究结果表明，与非吸烟者相比，吸烟者中披发虫感染率显著更低。我们的数据揭示了关于吸烟者中披发虫病的一个新假设。需要进一步的研究来评估吸烟在披发虫病病理生理学中的作用。
