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Association Between Blastocystis Sp. Infection and Immunocompromised Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Publisher Pubmed



Asghari A1 ; Sadeghipour Z2 ; Hassanipour S3 ; Abbasali Z4 ; Ebrahimzadehparikhani H5 ; Hashemzaei M6 ; Alimardani V7 ; Hatam G8
Authors
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Authors Affiliations
  1. 1. Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
  2. 2. Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran
  3. 3. Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases Research Center, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran
  4. 4. Department of Medical Parasitology and Entomology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
  5. 5. Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  6. 6. Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Pharmacy, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
  7. 7. Department of Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology, School of Pharmacy, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
  8. 8. Basic Sciences in Infectious Diseases Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

Source: Environmental Science and Pollution Research Published:2021


Abstract

The significance of opportunistic infections in immunocompromised patients and the enigmatic pathogenicity of Blastocystis directed us to conduct the first global systematic review and meta-analysis on Blastocystis prevalence, odds ratios (ORs), and subtypes distribution in various immunocompromised patients (HIV/AIDS, cancer and hemodialysis patients, as well as transplant recipients). The systematic searching procedure was done in Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases for relevant published literature until November 11, 2020. Random-effects model was utilized to calculate the weighted estimates and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). The computed pooled prevalence of Blastocystis inferred from 118 papers (128 datasets) on immunocompromised patients was 10.3% (95% CI: 8.7–12.2%), with 16.1% (95% CI: 11.3–22.2%), 12.5% (95% CI: 8.5–18%), 8.4% (95 % CI: 6.6–10.6%), and 6% (95% CI: 2.6–13.3%) for hemodialysis patients, cancer patients, HIV/AIDS patients, and transplant recipients, respectively. Based on 50 case-control studies (54 datasets), the highest ORs were associated with cancer [2.81 (95% CI: 1.24–6.38, P = 0.013)] and hemodialysis patients [2.78 (95% CI: 1.19–6.48, P = 0.018)]. The most frequent subtype being found in immunocompromised patients was ST3 [41.7% (95% CI: 31.4–52.7%)], followed by ST1 [31.7% (95% CI: 23.2–41.8%)] and ST2 [23.1% (95% CI: 14.8–34.1%)]. Also, the weighted frequency of Blastocystis in various subgroups (publication year, WHO regions, geographical distribution, continents, and country income) was analyzed separately. In total, the results of the present meta-analysis highlighted that one’s immunodeficiency status is probably associated with an increased Blastocystis infection, underpinning strict preventive measures to be taken. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.
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