Purpose

It is not clear that Blastocystis remains without damage to the digestive tract or has a pathogenic effect in relation to subtypes in immunocompromised people, such as cancer patients. The present study aimed to investigate the frequency and subtype distribution of Blastocystis in cancer patients who were followed-up and treated in the Oncology clinic of Firat University Hospital and to determine the clinical signs of infected sufferers.

Methods

201 patients aged ≥ 18 with a diagnosis of cancer were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Patients’ stool samples were examined between September 2017 and August 2019 by native-Lugol, trichrome staining. Microscopy-positive stool samples were subjected to DNA isolation and subtyped by Sequence Tagged Site (STS)-PCR analysis. The symptoms and demographic characteristics of the patients were also evaluated.

Results

Totally, 29 (14.4%) samples were positive for Blastocystis after all methods. 15 (51.7%) out of 29 samples were successfully subtyped by the sequenced-tagged site(STS)-PCR, while 14 (48.3%) could not be typed. Three subtypes of Blastocystis were detected: ST3 (40%), ST2 (33%), ST1 (20%), and one mixed infections with ST1/ST2 (6%). There was no statistically significant difference in terms of clinical findings and demographic characteristics.

Conclusion

The outcomes of our study promote the idea that Blastocystis could be an asymptomatic and harmless commensal organism. However, more comprehensive molecular and clinical studies are needed to fully determine the pathogenicity and epidemiology of Blastocystis in cancer patients.

中文翻译：

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土耳其癌症患者分离囊胚亚型的调查

目的

目前尚不清楚囊胚菌是否对消化道没有损害，或者对免疫功能低下人群（如癌症患者）的亚型具有致病作用。本研究旨在调查在Firat 大学医院肿瘤诊所接受随访和治疗的癌症患者中囊胚的频率和亚型分布，并确定感染患者的临床症状。

方法

201 名 18 岁及以上诊断为癌症的患者参加了这项横断面研究。在 2017 年 9 月至 2019 年 8 月期间，通过原生卢戈三色染色检查了患者的粪便样本。显微镜检查阳性的粪便样本进行 DNA 分离并通过序列标记位点 (STS)-PCR 分析进行亚型。还评估了患者的症状和人口统计学特征。

结果

在所有方法后，总共有 29 个 (14.4%) 样品呈囊胚阳性。29 个样本中有 15 个 (51.7%) 被测序标记位点 (STS)-PCR 成功亚型，而 14 个 (48.3%) 无法分型。检测到三种囊胚亚型：ST3 (40%)、ST2 (33%)、ST1 (20%) 和一种 ST1/ST2 混合感染 (6%)。在临床发现和人口统计学特征方面没有统计学上的显着差异。

结论

我们的研究结果促进了一种观点，即囊胚可能是一种无症状且无害的共生生物。然而，需要更全面的分子和临床研究来全面确定囊胚芽胞杆菌在癌症患者中的致病性和流行病学。