Blastocystis is a widely prevalent intestinal protozoan of man and other animals. It is associated with gastro intestinal disorders and symptoms. Emerging literature suggests that several subtypes of this parasite exist and are responsible for virulence, pathogenicity and symptoms. A variety of new diagnostic methods have been developed which help to recognize genotypic variations, subtype rela...

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) represent a spectrum of impaired immunity with effects on cellular immunity, soluble immune factors, and inflammation. As a result, infections due to impaired immune system responses are responsible for significant morbidity in patients with kidney disease. Because of immune dysfunction in CKD, these patients have reduced probabili...

BACKGROUND The prison management in Malaysia is proactively seeking to improve the health status of the prison inmates. Intestinal parasitic infections (IPIs) are widely distributed throughout the world and are still gaining great concern due to their significant morbidity and mortality among infected humans. In Malaysia, there is a paucity of information on IPIs among prison inmates. In order ...

AIM To investigate the putative role of protozoan parasites in the development of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). METHODS The study included 109 IBS consecutive adult patients fulfilling the Rome III criteria and 100 healthy control subjects. All study subjects filled a structured questionnaire, which covered demographic information and clinical data. Fresh stool samples were collected from p...

BACKGROUND Blastocystis is a zoonotic protozoan parasite living in the digestive system of some vertebrates. This parasite has some subtypes, pathogenicity status of which has still remained controversial. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to determine the subtype of Blastocystis in infected cattle. MATERIALS AND METHODS This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 196 isolate...