Development of a real-time PCR assay for quantitative detection of Encephalitozoon intestinalis DNA.

A new real-time PCR assay for quantitation of Encephalitozoon intestinalis DNA was developed which used a TaqMan fluorescent probe for specific detection. Serial dilutions of E. intestinalis spore suspensions obtained from tissue culture were used as external standards.

Detection of Microsporidia, cryptosporidia and Giardia in swimming pools: a one-year prospective study.

In order to estimate the rate of microsporidia, cryptosporidia and giardia contamination of swimming pools, sequential samples of water were collected during a one-year period in six different swimming pools in Paris, France. Fourty-eight samples were submitted to filtrations. Eluates were examined for microsporidia using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and for cryptosporidia and giardia using immunofluorescence staining.

Search for Enterocytozoon bieneusi infection in wild monkeys in Cameroon.

Faecal samples collected from 42 wild monkeys in Cameroon were examined for microsporidia by light microscopy (using Weber trichrome and Uvitex 2B stains) and by PCR (using Enterocytozoon bieneusi specific primers). None of the 42 samples was positive, suggesting that wild monkeys do not represent a major reservoir for microsporidia in Central Africa.

Disseminated infection due to Encephalitozoon cuniculi in a patient with AIDS: case report and review.

Objective And Methods: Infections due to microsporidia are increasingly recognized as opportunistic infections in patients with AIDS. We describe here a case of disseminated infection due to Encephalitozoon cuniculi and review the literature on this microsporidial infection.

Results: All 12 patients reported in the literature had AIDS and nine presented with disseminated infection involving the kidneys, sinuses, lungs, brain and conjunctiva.

Evidence of different Enterocytozoon bieneusi genotypes in patients with and without human immunodeficiency virus infection.

We classified 100 Enterocytozoon bieneusi isolates into five genotypes by a PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism method. Type I strains were encountered only in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients, whereas type II strains were more frequently found in non-HIV-infected patients (75 versus 10%, respectively; P < 10(-4)), suggesting differences in the epidemiology of E. bieneusi among these patients.