DIAGNOSIS OF Strongyloides stercoralis INFECTION IN IMMUNOCOMPROMISED PATIENTS BY SEROLOGICAL AND MOLECULAR METHODS

• Published in: Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo
• Main Authors: Fabiana Martins de PAULA, Fernanda Mello MALTA, Marcelo Andreetta CORRAL, Priscilla Duarte MARQUES, Maiara GOTTARDI, Dirce Mary Correia Lima MEISEL, Juliana YAMASHIRO, João Renato Rebello PINHO, Vera Lucia Pagliusi CASTILHO, Elenice Messias do Nascimento GONÇALVES, Ronaldo César Borges GRYSCHEK, Pedro Paulo CHIEFFI
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade de São Paulo (USP)
• Subjects: Strongyloides stercoralis; Parasitological diagnosis; ELISA test; Real-time PCR; Immunocompromised; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Infectious and parasitic diseases; RC109-216; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1590/S1678-9946201658063; https://doaj.org/article/80d0a3005c1d414ea92e010f98385725

SUMMARY Strongyloidiasis is a potentially serious infection in immunocompromised patients. Thus, the availability of sensitive and specific diagnostic methods is desirable, especially in the context of immunosuppressed patients in whom the diagnosis and treatment of strongyloidiasis is of utmost importance. In this study, serological and molecular tools were used to diagnose Strongyloides stercoralis infections in immunosuppressed patients. Serum and stool samples were obtained from 52 patients. Stool samples were first analyzed by Lutz, Rugai, and Agar plate culture methods, and then by a quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Serum samples were evaluated by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using a soluble (AS) or a membrane fractions antigen (AM) obtained from alkaline solutions of the filariform larvae of Strongyloides venezuelensis. Of the 52 immunosuppressed patients, three (5.8%) were positive for S. stercoralis by parasitological methods, compared to two patients (3.8%) and one patient (1.9%) who were detected by ELISA using the AS and the AM antigens, respectively. S. stercoralis DNA was amplified in seven (13.5%) stool samples by qPCR. These results suggest the utility of qPCR as an alternative diagnostic tool for the diagnosis of S. stercoralis infection in immunocompromised patients, considering the possible severity of this helminthiasis in this group of patients.