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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Environmental Microbial & Food Safety Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #380869
Research Project: Zoonotic Parasites Affecting Food Animals, Food Safety, and Public Health

Location: Environmental Microbial & Food Safety Laboratory

Title: Detection of gastrointestinal protists

Author
item Santin-Duran, Monica
item HUBLIN, JOSEPHINE,SU YI - Orise Fellow
item Maloney, Jenny

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/7/2023
Publication Date: 6/13/2024
Citation: Santin, M, Ng-Hublin, J.S.Y, Maloney, J.G. 2024. In: Detection of gastrointestinal protists. Sulaiman, I.M. (Editor). Recent Advancements in the Diagnosis of Human Disease (1st Edition). CRC Press. pp 46-103. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003438595
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003438595

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Infections of the gastrointestinal tract caused by parasitic protist are a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Diarrhea is the main symptom observed in most gastrointestinal parasitic infections, and differential diagnosis to properly identify the parasite and differential diagnosis with bacterial and viral infections that also share diarrhea as a main clinical symptom is necessary. All gastrointestinal protists have in common that in their life cycle there is a stage where the organism is passed in the feces of infected persons. Traditionally, the detection of protists from the gastrointestinal tract has relied on light microscopy for morphological determination of intestinal stages in stool. However, an important limitation of conventional microscopic diagnostic methods is their inability to differentiate strains of the same parasite. Application of molecular techniques has not only allowed for detection of lower numbers of parasites in a given sample, improving sensitivity and specificity, but also to genetically characterize isolates to determine species, genotypes, or subtypes that are morphologically indistinguishable. In this review, the author discusses detection of gastrointestinal protist covering serology, specimen collection, stool preservation, microscopy examination, fecal immunoassays, stool culture, molecular detection methods including multiplex syndromic assays and loop-mediated isothermal amplification. The paper will be of interest to medical professionals, biologists, public health workers and parasitologists.