Infection by and genotype characteristics of Enterocytozoon bieneusi in HIV/AIDS patients from Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, China.
BACKGROUND
Enterocytozoon bieneusi has been increasingly reported to infect humans and various mammals. Microsporidia cause diarrhea in HIV-infected patients worldwide. PCR amplification and sequencing based on the internal transcribed spacer region have been used to describe the genotypes of E. bieneusi and transmission of microsporidiosis.


METHODS
In this study, we examined E. bieneusi infection and genotypes in HIV-positive patients in Guangxi, China. Stool specimens were collected from 285 HIV-positive patients and 303 HIV-negative individuals. E. bieneusi genotypes were characterized using nested PCR and sequencing.


RESULTS
Thirty-three (11.58%) HIV-positive patients were infected with microsporidia, and no infection was found in the 303 healthy controls. Three new genotypes were identified and named as GX25, GX456, and GX458; four known genotypes, PigEBITS7, Type IV/K, D, and Ebpc, were also identified. Our data showed that the positive rate for microsporidia was significantly higher in the rural patients than in the other occupation groups. In addition, the positive rate for microsporidia was significantly higher in the patients who drink unboiled water than in those with other drinking water sources.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results will provide baseline data for preventing and controlling E. bieneusi infection in HIV/AIDS patients. Further studies are required to clarify the epidemiology and potential sources of microsporidia. Our study showed that microsporidium infection occurs in the HIV/AIDS patients in Guangxi, China.
['Liu|Hua|H|', 'Jiang|Zhihua|Z|', 'Yuan|Zhongying|Z|', 'Yin|Jianhai|J|', 'Wang|Zunfu|Z|', 'Yu|Bingxue|B|', 'Zhou|Dongsheng|D|', 'Shen|Yujuan|Y|', 'Cao|Jianping|J|']
D000328:Adult D000818:Animals D002681:China D004271:DNA, Fungal D021862:Enterocytozoon D005243:Feces D005260:Female D005838:Genotype D015658:HIV Infections D006801:Humans D008297:Male D016881:Microsporidiosis D008875:Middle Aged D010802:Phylogeny D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction D015995:Prevalence D012307:Risk Factors D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
Genotype Enterocytozoon bieneusi HIV/AIDS Risk factors