Investigation of Blastocystis sp. frequency in immunocompramised patient

Ismael AA. Investigation of Blastocystis sp. Frequency in Immunocompramised Patients. Van Yuzuncu Yil University Institute of Health Sciences, M. Sc. Thesis in Department of Medical Parasitology, Van, 2017. The objective of the present study was to determine the prevalence of Blastocystis sp. in patients with cancer (CA), diabetes mellitus (DM) and chronical renal failure (CRF) and to demonstrate the significance of blastocystosis in these patients. The study was conducted with a group of patients who were referred to the Parasitology Laboratory from the Yuzuncu Yil University, Dursun Odabas Medical Center, Internal Medicine Outpatient Clinics between January 2nd 2017 and September 01st 2017. The patient group included a total of 150 immunocompromised patients and the control group included 75 healthy individuals. Twenty-nine individuals in the patient group were younger than 35 and 121 were older 35. This group included 68 CA patients, 42 DM patients, 40 CRF patients. Patient and control group stool samples were examined with native-Lugol method. The presence of five or more Blastocystis sp. in each microscope field at X40 magnification was positivity criterion. In the present study, intestinal parasites were found in 26% of the patient group and in 13.3% of the control group. Blastocystis sp. positivity (5 and more Blastocystis sp. in each field) was determined in 22 (14.7%) patient group samples and 3 (4%) individuals in the control group. The highest prevalence rate of the parasite was identified in patients with CRF (20%). The highest Blastocystis sp. positivity was identified in patients with liver CA (25%) among patients with CA. Vacuolar form was the most common parasite form in Blastocystis sp. positive patients. There was a statistically significant correlation based on Blastocystis sp. positivity between the immunocompramised patient group (150 patients) and the control group (75 individuals) (p= 0.004). Furthermore, there were significant differences between Blastocystis sp. positivity and DM (p= 0.040) and CRF (p= 0.015). There was no statistically significant difference between genders and age groups in the frequency of this parasitic in the patient group. When the complaints of positive and negative patients in the patient group were compared, it was found that there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups based on the presence of abdominal pain only (p= 0.017). Based on the study findings, we concluded that blastocystosis should be taken into consideration in immunocompromised patients, especially DM and CRF patients.