Characterization of subtypes of Blastocystis sp. isolated from patients with urticaria, São Paulo, Brazil

Gessica Baptista de Melo; Fernanda de Mello Malta; Celina Wakisaka Maruta; Paulo Ricardo Criado; Vera Lucia Pagliusi Castilho; Elenice Messias do Nascimento Gonçalves; Maria Cristina de Carvalho do Espirito-Santo; Fabiana Martins de Paula; Ronaldo Cesar Borges Gryschek

doi:10.1016/j.parepi.2019.e00124

Characterization of subtypes of Blastocystis sp. isolated from patients with urticaria, São Paulo, Brazil

Parasite Epidemiol Control. 2019 Nov 9:7:e00124. doi: 10.1016/j.parepi.2019.e00124. eCollection 2019 Nov.

Authors

Gessica Baptista de Melo¹, Fernanda de Mello Malta², Celina Wakisaka Maruta³, Paulo Ricardo Criado^{3

4}, Vera Lucia Pagliusi Castilho⁵, Elenice Messias do Nascimento Gonçalves⁵, Maria Cristina de Carvalho do Espirito-Santo¹, Fabiana Martins de Paula¹, Ronaldo Cesar Borges Gryschek¹

Affiliations

¹ Laboratório de Imunopatologia da Esquistossomose (LIM-06), Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
² Laboratório de Gastroenterologia e Hepatologia Tropical (LIM-07), Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
³ Departamento de Dermatologia, Hospital Das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
⁴ Faculdade de Medicina Do ABC, São Paulo, Brazil.
⁵ Seção de Parasitologia, Divisão Do Laboratório Central, Hospital Das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.

Abstract

Blastocystis sp. is described as an enteric protist prevalent in fecal samples from humans and animals; its pathogenicity and epidemiology are still controversial. Currently, it has been associated with intestinal diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome and clinical manifestations of allergic skin, such as chronic urticaria. In the context of urticaria, it is still uncertain whether this organism is directly related to the allergic manifestation or just a common component of the intestinal microbiota. This study aimed to evaluate the occurrence and molecular diversity of Blastocystis sp. in individuals with urticaria from a dermatology outpatient clinic, São Paulo, Brazil. Fecal samples of 58 patients with urticaria were examined using parasitological methods; and subsequently tested by polymerase chain reaction using Blastocystis-specific primers. The subtypes (STs) and alleles (a) were determined using BLASTn and MLST tools. ST1, ST2, ST3, ST4, ST6 and mixed infection (ST1 + ST3) were identified in the patients with urticaria; ST1 (a4), ST3 (a34 and a36) and ST4 (a42) were the most prevalent. Our molecular analyses allowed an initial description of Blastocystis subtypes in patients with urticaria from São Paulo city, Brazil.

Keywords: Blastocystis sp.; Brazil; Subtype; Urticaria.