Iranian Journal of Parasitology
Volume:2 Issue: 3, Oct-Dec 2007

Amoebic keratitis introduced as a painful corneal infection which sometimes lead to poor vision and blind-ness. The main goal of this study was to report amoebic keratitis during ten years from 1997-2007 in patients who was sus-pected to have amoebic keratitis and referred to Parasitology laboratory, School of Public Health, Tehran Univer sity of Medical Sciences, Iran. Other aim was to assess the major risk factor for developing this sight-threatening disease. Comparison of lens culture and corneal scrapes culture also was performed. During 1997-2007, 142 patients referred to Dept. of Medical Parasitology, School of Public Health, Tehran Uni-versity of Medical Sciences, Iran. Details of each patient such as age, sex, history of contact lens wear, type of contact lens, clinical symptoms were recorded in questioners. Keratitis was diagnosed on the basis of culture of lenses and/or corneal scrapes on non-nutrient agar overlaid with Escherichia coli and direct microscopy of lenses and/or corneal scrapes. Among 142 patients, 49 (34.5%) had amoebic keratitis. 73.46% of these patients were from Tehran but there were a few cases from other cities. The commonest age was between 15-25 yr (75.5%) and more female (37:12) were identified then male. It is worth to mention that 44 patients (89.79%) were contact lens wearers who among them 41 patients (93.18%) wore soft contact lens and only three patients suffer from amoebic keratitis because of wearing hard contact lens. Other finding of this study demonstrated that the most common sign of the patients was severe pain combined with photophobia. This study indicates that Acanthamoeba keratitis continue to rise in Iran. This is due to increase frequency of lens wearers as well as consideration of ophthalmologist to Acanthamoeba as an agent of keratitis and improvement of labo ratory methods. Another finding of this research was the confirmation of soft contact lens as a major risk factor. It is rec ommended to educate contact lens wearers for regular disinfection. Besides, culture of corneal scrapes was negative in most of cases, so lens culture were performed which had a much better result.

Hydatidosis is one of the most important helminthic diseases causing serious health and economic problems in many countries including Iran. Currently available diagnostic approaches for diagnosis of cystic echinococcosis (CE) are not satisfactory since they have not achieved a reasonable validity in diagnosis of CE. This study aimed to assess the perform ances of Western blotting (WB), using native antigen B, for serological diagnosis of human hydatidosis. Antigen B was prepared from sheep hydatid cyst fluid. Serum samples obtained from 40 surgically proven cases of hydatidosis along with serum samples from non-hydatidosis patients and samples from healthy persons were tested by immunoblotting, using native antigen B. From 40 sera of hydatidosis patients, 32 cases (80%) detected 8 kDa subunit, 29 cases (72.5%) recognized the 16 kDa component and 29 cases (72.5%) detected 24 kDa subunit of antigen B. The highest sensitivity (80%) was achieved with 8 kDa subunit of antigen B while the other components (16 and 24 kDa) showed a lower sensitivity (72.5%). Samples from healthy controls and non-hydatidosis patients did not yield any detectable band in the Western blotting assay. Ac-cordingly, specificity of the system was found to be 100%. Considering the use of native antigen B, application of western blotting, based on 8 kDa subunit of antigen B, is highly recommended for the confirmatory diagnosis of hydatidosis.

Leishmaniasis is a common parasitic disease world wide. Leishmania tropica and L. major are two common cause of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Iran. The aim of this study was determination of the cause of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Shush city, Khouzestan Province, Southwest Iran One hundred samples were collected from patients at the age of 1-80 year with documented cutaneous leishmani asis referred to the health centre and a private medical diagnostic laboratory at Shush City. DNA was extracted from slid samples by phenol- chloroform- Isoemil alcohol method, and subjected to Nested-PCR as template. k DNA of the parasites were amplified by CSB1XR and CSB2XF in the first round of PCR and 13Z and Li R primers for the second round. After PCR, electrophoresis of products was performed and 750bp band from L. tropica and 560bp band from L. major were de tected. A total of 100 cases comprising 47 females and 53 males were studied. The highest infected age group was under 10 years with a rate of 42% and the lowest rate was 4% at the age group of above 40 years. The results of PCR electropho-resis indicated that 90(90%) cases were L. major and 10 (10%) L. tropica. The predominant species in this area was L. ma-jor. It is concluded that Nested PCR is a reliable test for diagnosis and identification of Leishmania species and can apply in epidemiological investigations.

Organ transplant recipients can experience serious diseases from infections due to emerging and reemerging parasitic infections. This study was carried out to evaluate the prevalence of intestinal parasites among renal transplant re-cipients of Iran. This cross-sectional study was conducted from June 2003 to August 2004 on renal transplant recipients in Iran. A total of 706 fecal samples obtained from randomly selected population originated from all over Iran. Patient''s information was recorded in a questionnaire before sampling. A sample of stool was taken from each person. Direct wet smear exami-nation, formalin-ether concentration, Ziehl-neelsen staining, and agar plate culture were done for each sample. Totally 32 patients (4.5%) were positive for parasitic infections. In searching for emerging parasitic infections, the most prevalent parasites were found to be Blastocystis hominis, Giardia lamblia and Entamoeba coli, respectively. The merely ova which were seen were related to Hymenolepis nana. With investigation of healthy control, no significant differ-ence was found between transplanted and normal population. The population showed controlled rate of intestinal infections probably due to regular awareness concerning risks of opportunistic infections; albeit regular surveillance through routine examination of stool samples for parasites seems considerably advantages the transplant recipient patients.

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) or Kala azar is an infectious disease caused by various species of Leishmania parasites. The aim of this study was to detect and compare the presence of anti-Leishmania antibodies in the urine of vis-ceral leishmaniasis patients using ELISA and DAT methods. A total of 30 urine samples were collected from VL patients referred to Shiraz (southeast of Iran) hospitals. Moreover 31 urine samples were collected from healthy individuals and patients with other diseases such as malaria, brucellosis, hydatidosis and cutaneous leishmaniasis. Collected samples were examined to detect anti-Leishmania antibod-ies in urine, using ELISA and DAT. Anti-Leishmania antibody was detected in urine of 18 out of 30 (60%) VL patients by DAT while ELISA detected anti-Leishmania antibodies in urine of 28 out of 30 (93.3%) of VL cases. Sensitivity and specificity of urine-based DAT was 60% and 83.9%, respectively while sensitivity and specificity of urine-based ELISA were 93.3% and 93.5%, corre-spondingly. Urine-based DAT and ELISA have a reasonable specificity and sensitivity in diagnosis of VL. Accordingly, urine-based ELISA might be a suitable alternative for serum based assays for diagnosis of VL.

Echinococcosis or hydatid cyst (HC) is considered as one of the major parasitic infections in Iran that causes many health problems and economic losses in communities. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of HC in patients referred to surgery wards of three hospitals in Khorram-Abad, the center of Lorestan province in South-West of Iran from 2002 - 2006. Totally, 64513 medical records of patients referred to surgery wards of Shohadaye Ashayer, Tohid and Taamine Ejtemaee hospitals in Khorram-Abad Lorestan were studied. These patients had gone under surgical operations for different reasons. Among these medical records, 43.7% belonged to Shohadaye Ashayer, 8.2% to Tohid and 18.1% to Taamine ejte maee hospitals. Cysts were found in liver and lung in 61.5% and 20.5% of cases, respectively. In addition, cysts were found in brain, muscle, kidney eye and peritonea in the remaining 18% of cases. A very low level of knowledge about hydatid disease was found in the community. The mean age of the pa-tients was 40.2 years and the highest rate of infection with HC was observed in women. Further studies are required to find the etiologic factors of H.C in Khorram-Abad Lorestan-Iran.

To study toxoplasmosis in neonates using PCR and serological methods. Sera and CSF of 104 neonates, hospitalized in infants'' ward of Taleghani Hospital, Tehran, Iran were examined. The sera were examined for anti Toxoplasma gondii lgM and lgG specific antibodies with ELISA and IFA techniques, respectively. Meanwhile, obtained CSFs of the cases were evaluated for the genome of this parasite by PCR technique. Results showed positivity in 7 neonates (6.73%) which suggested congenital toxoplasmosis. Results of PCR were positive in 6 neonates (5.77%). The 1/100 titer of lgM specific antibodies was positive in 5(4.81%) of them by IFA technique and 6 neonates (5.77%) had positive results by ELISA technique for IgM specific. The rate of mortality was %0.96. Forty one neonates had 1/200 titer of specific lgG antibodies by IFA technique and 38 neonates had positive results by ELISA technique for IgG antibodies. The prevalence of chronic toxoplasmosis in mother was 32.7% and 30% by IFA and ELISA techniques, respectively. Toxoplasmosis is still highly prevalent in neonates and should be considered due to the fact that suspected cases might be misdiagnosed and subsequently led to life- threatening or fatal condition.