Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection has altered both the epidemiology and outcome of enteric opportunistic parasitic infections. This study was done to determine the prevalence and species/genotypes of intestinal coccidian and microsporidial infections among HIV/AIDS patients with diarrhea and/or a history of diarrhea alternately with an asymptomatic interval, and their association with CD4 T cell count. This crosssectional study was done from

We determined species/genotype(s) of enteric microsporidia and coccidia causing diarrhea among 44 liver transplant children in Shiraz Nemazee hospital using acid-fast-trichrome staining and polymerase chain reaction-sequencing techniques. Enterocytozoon bieneusi (genotype D), Cryptosporidium (parvum and meleagridis) were detected in 6.81% and 11.36% of the children, respectively.

Cholecystitis is one of the common surgical indications affecting human beings in many countries. A variety of infectious agents can be associated with acute or chronic acalculous cholecystitis, especially in HIV/AIDS patients. In this investigation, the authors aim to describe two cases of histologically and molecularly documented cystoisosporiasis (syn. isosporiasis) as the cause of chronic acalculous cholecystitis in two immunodeficient patients. During microscopic examinations of more than 2500 diarrheic patients' samples, 11 cases of cystoisosporiasis-related recurrent persistent/chronic diarrhea were detected. A review of the medical records of Cystoisospora belli (syn. Isospora belli)-positive patients showed that two of them, i.e. a patient with prolonged corticosteroid therapy and an AIDS patient, several months prior to fecal examinations had undergone cholecystectomy due to acalculous cholecystitis. The study was continued by a review of the histopathological investigation of the recuts prepared from the excised gallbladder tissue sections and stained with hematoxylin and eosin in order to detect a possible specific clinical correlation with cystoisosporiasis. Light microscopic examination revealed the presence of various developmental stages of a coccidial parasite, namely Cystoisospora belli, in both patients' gallbladder tissue sections. To the best of our knowledge, C. belli-associated cholecystitis has not been previously reported in a patient with prolonged corticosteroid therapy.

The genus Sarcocystis is not usually considered as an important enteric pathogen in immune compromised patients. It might be expected that species for which humans are the final host (Sarcocystis hominis and Sarcocystis suihominis as well as possibly others) would be encountered increasingly often in immunodeficient persons. This study aimed to address how to detect and differentiate Sarcocystis oocysts and/or sporocysts from enteric protozoans in the diarrheal samples of immunodeficient patients in Shiraz, Iran. Diarrheal samples of 741 immunodeficient patients with recurrent persistent or chronic diarrhea were examined by microscopy and molecular biological analysis. Oocysts-positive samples were 68 Cryptosporidium spp., 9 Cystoisospora belli (syn. Isospora belli), 2 Cyclospora cayetanensis, and 15 microsporidia (Enterocytozoon bieneusi). Sarcocystis-like sporocysts found from a woman were identified as Sarcocystis cruzi through 18S rDNA amplification and phylogenetic analysis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of S. cruzi from a human.

The preparation, characterization and application of silica‐tethered cuprous acetophenone thiosemicarbazone (STCATSC) as a novel hybrid nano catalyst for synthesis of new 1,2,3‐triazolyl‐based metronidazole hybrid analogues is described. STCATSC is fully characterized by different microscopic, spectroscopic and physical techniques, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission, X‐ray diffraction (XRD), Energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), FT‐IR and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) analysis. This catalyst is used to prepare the new 1,2,3‐triazolyl‐based metronidazole hybrid analogues. The ‘Click’ Huisgen cycloaddition reaction of 2‐methyl‐5‐nitro‐1‐prop‐2‐ynyl‐1H‐imidazole with diverse β‐azidoalcohols in a THF‐water media at R.T. provides the products in good to excellent yields using STCATSC. STCATSC is proved to be a stable, low cost, reusable and environmentally benign hybrid catalyst. Products are in vitro tested against Giardia lamblia (G. lamblia) in which determined that all compounds exhibit varied promising antigiardial activity compare to metronidazole as a reference drug. Among the products, 1‐(4‐((2‐methyl‐5‐nitro‐1H‐imidazol‐1‐yl)methyl)‐1H‐1,2,3‐triazol‐1‐yl)‐3‐phenethoxypropan‐2‐ol and 1‐(4‐((2‐methyl‐5‐nitro‐1H‐imidazol‐1‐yl)methyl)‐1H‐1,2,3‐triazol‐1‐yl)‐3‐(3‐phenylpropoxy)propan‐2‐ol are demonstrated to exhibit the potent antigiardial activity even stronger than metronidazole.

Acalculous cholecystitis and cholangitis are increasingly being recognized as complications of AIDS. The opportunistic parasites that have been most commonly associated with these disorders are Cryptosporidium species, Isospora belli, Cyclospora cayetanensis and Enterocytozoon bieneusi. The authors performed a parasitological survey on the gallbladder tissue sections of patients underwent cholecystectomy due to chronic acalculous cholecystitis at the Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Light microscopic investigation in more than three hundred archived histopathological slides revealed the presence of sexual stages (i.e., mature sporocysts) of a coccidial protozoan in a patient with AIDS who developed acalculous cholecystitis as confirmed by histological, parasitological and molecular tests in which Sarcocystis species was the only identifiable pathogen in gallbladder sections. In the best of our knowledge it's the first documented case of chronic non-calculous cholecystitis due to Sarcocystis parasite in an Iranian AIDS patient from worldwide.

Background: Intestinal parasitic infections (IPIs) are still considered a public health problem of mankind, particularly in immunocompromised patients. We aimed to determine the prevalence of IPIs with an emphasis on immunocompromised patients in a referral hospital in Tehran Province, Iran. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 442 fecal specimens were collected randomly from patients, referred to Baqiyatallah Hospital in Tehran Province, Iran from May to September 2020. The collected specimens were examined using wet-mount, trichrome and modified Ziehl-Neelsen staining, formalin-ether concentration, and agar plate culture. Results: The prevalence of IPIs was found 17.0% (95% CI: 13.6-20.8%). The prevalence of protozoan parasites (16.3%; 95% CI: 13.0-20.1%) was significantly higher than helminthic parasites (0.7%; 95% CI: 0.1-2.0%). Blastocystis spp., Giardia lamblia, and Entamoeba coli were the most common intestinal protozoan with a prevalence of 12.2%, 1.6%, and 1.4%, respectively. E. histolytica/E. dispar/E.  moshkovskii, Iodamoeba bütschlii, Cryptosporidium spp., Chilomastix mesnili as protozoan species and Hymenolepis nana, Dicrocoelium dendriticum, and Ascaris lumbricoides as helminthic species were the other detected parasites. Multiple logistic regression revealed a significant association of IPIs infections with stool consistency and the status of immune system. Conclusion: The prevalence of IPIs among the patients who are immunocompromised was significantly higher than immunocompetent patients (P< 0.05). Periodic stool examinations for screening of IPIs should be included as a part of routine medical check-up in these patients.

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