A novel ELISA test for laboratory diagnosis of Blastocystis spp. in human stool specimens.

Detection of Blastocystis is routinely performed by microscopy, culture, and formyl-ether (ethyl acetate) concentration technique (FECT). Yet, these methods require special skilled personnel, are time consuming, and often involve processing that may cause misdiagnosis. The aim of this work is to demonstrate the usefulness of a newly introduced ELISA test for the detection of Blastocystis antigens in stool samples (CoproELISA(TM) Blastocystis, Savyon Diagnostics) as a proper alternative to currently used methods, especially microscopy.

[Investigation of Microsporidia prevalence by different staining methods in cases of diarrhea].

Microsporidia, depending on their different species, generally lead to self-limited, sporadic and mild infections such as diarrhea, corneal ulcer and myositis. They are considered as opportunistic pathogens in HIV-positive patients however in recent years Microsporidia have been detected also in immunocompetent individuals as a cause of diarrhea. Diagnosis of Microsporidia depends on the detection of spores or different developmental stages of protozoon in stool, urine, sinus aspirates, nasal discharge, bronchoalveolar lavage or tissue biopsies.

Evaluation of DNA extraction kits for molecular diagnosis of human Blastocystis subtypes from fecal samples.

Blastocystis sp. is now recognized as one of the most common intestinal parasite in human fecal examinations. Recently, PCR-based diagnostic methods of Blastocystis infection using direct DNA extraction from fresh fecal samples with commercially available kits are reported.

A possible relationship between Toxoplasma gondii and schizophrenia: A seroprevalence study.

Objective. Schizophrenia is a pervasive neuropsychiatric disease of uncertain etiology. We aimed to investigate a possible association between Toxoplasma gondii infection and schizophrenia in this study.