January 10, 2012

Dear Friends,
 
BRF news is back. 
 
With close to a dozen teams researching Blastocystis world-wide, 2012 promises to be an exciting and productive year for researchers and patients alike. 
 
Best Wishes, 
 
Ken Boorom
Director
Blastocystis Research Foundation

  
 
Discovery Channel Program to Feature Blastocystis Infection:  This past summer, BRF worked with the editors from the Discovery channel on an episode of their program called Monsters Inside Me, which will feature Blastocystis infection.  The show is a regularly scheduled 60-minute program focused on parasitological infections.  Prior programs have featured toxoplasmosis, Cryptosporidium spp. infection, cutaneous leishmania, schistosomiasis, Strongyloides infection, lymphatic filariasis, malaria, trypanosomiasis, neurocysticercosis, and toxoplasmosis.  We will send out an e-mail when we learn of the exact air date.  The Discovery Channel is a cable TV channel which provides scientific programming to subscribers around the world.
            Program Web Site:  http://animal.discovery.com/tv/monsters-inside-me/
 
 
Blastocystis Down-Regulates Nitric Oxide Synthesis, and is Susceptible to Nitric-Oxide:  How does Blastocystis make people sick?  Researchers at Dr. Kevin Tan’s lab in Singapore may have discovered part of the answer to the question, by performing experiments that show that Blastocystis down-regulates nitric oxide synthesis (NOS) in human cells.  Other enteric protozoa, like Giardia intestinalis, have also been found to interfere with NOS by starving human cells of L-arginine, an amino acid that is a precursor to the production of nitric oxide.  The research team also determined that metronidazole-resistant Blastocystis is susceptible to nitric oxide, suggesting the possibility that the interference mechanism may act in the organism’s favor.
                Infections and Immunity Article: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21930763


Middle Eastern Scientists Receive Recognition for Contributions to Blastocystis Research in Medlab Magazine: Medlab Magazine has published a 4-page article on the contributions made by Middle Eastern scientists to Blastocystis Research.  The article, which was co-authored by BRF, noted that Middle Eastern researchers have significantly out-published researchers from North America over the past 10 years, despite limited resources.  The paper credits Middle Eastern researchers with a number of “firsts”, including the first study to identify a differentiable immune response in symptomatic and asymptomatic Blastocystis patients, and the first paper to suggest that Blastocystis is causing IBS.  Copies of the magazine can be ordered from Medlab.  Copies of the article are available at BRF’s link below for a limited time:
                Download Article from BRF:  http://www.bhomcenter.org/pdfs/MEDLAB_2011_BLASTOCYSTIS.pdf
                Medlab Magazine (to order a magazine):  http://ah.myiir.com/NEW_MEDLAB_MAG.html
 
 
Performance of DNA Extraction Kits Varies in Extracting Usable Blastocystis DNA:  A collaboration between Dr. Yoshikawa and Dr. Dogruman-Al in Turkey has produced the first comparative analysis of DNA kits in the extraction of Blastocystis DNA.  The researchers used 50 known-positive fecal samples to compare the performance of the Roche, Qiagen, and Zymo kits in extraction of Blastocystis DNA.  Blastocystis was extracted directly from fecal samples, and detected by amplifying a 1.1k base-pair sequence.  Zymo’s kit identified the most positive samples (94%), followed by Qiagen (48%).  Roche's kit came in last at 10%.
                Parasitology Research Article :http://www.springerlink.com/content/g11681t115268412/


Culture Medium and pH Can be Optimized for Detection of Blastocystis:  A research team at Jiaotong University in Xi’an China reports that in vitro culture compares favorably to chemical fixation in the identification of Blastocystis in fecal samples, even over a pH from 7.0-7.5, and with a concentration of fetal calf serum of 10%-30%.  At a pH of 7.0, peak counts of Blastocystis were observed on days 3, 6, and 9 while at a pH of 7.5, Blastocystis counts peaked on days 4 and 8.  The research team suggested that in vitro culture provides environmental benefits over chemical fixation, as it does not produce a chemical disposal problem for laboratories to address.
                Link:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22047715


Blastocystis sp. Subtype 4 Linked to Acute Diarrhea in Study of 444 Danish Patients: While Blastocystis has been associated with long-term illness by some researchers, others have reported that the infection resolves by itself without treatment, producing yet another “controversy.”  Lanuza (1999) was the first researcher to suggest that specific Blastocystis subtypes were associated with chronic or acute illness.  Researchers in Denmark have revisited that work, using modern phylogenetic analysis, and identified a subtype of Blastocystis likely to be associated with acute illness.  In a study of 444 patients with acute diarrhea, 5.6% (25/444) were infected with Blastocystis, and the genotype was primarily Blastocystis sp. subtype 4 (75% or 19/25).  This Blastocystis subtype is comparatively uncommon in individuals with chronic gastrointestinal illness, and those with HIV infection.
                AJTMH Article:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21633023


Blastocystis Cysts Survive Wastewater Treatment Process:  Researchers report that 7% of the effluent samples from wastewater treatment plants in the Philippines were found to contain viable Blastocystis cells by in vitro culture.  By comparison, 23% (7/31) of the wastewater samples entering the plants were positive for viable Blastocystis.  Phylogenetic analysis showed that the main subtypes of Blastocystis in the effluent samples were Blastocystis sp. subtype 1 and subtype 2.  Prior study by Suresh (2005) has shown that viable Blastocystis cells also are present in wastewater from Malaysia and the United Kingdom.
                Journal of Water Health Article:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21301121
 

Recreational Water Re-Suspends Blastocystis Cysts in Water:  High levels of rainfall have been associated with increases in infection with gastrointestinal protozoa, but the exact mechanisms have not been well defined.  Researchers in Malaysia studying Blastocystis levels in recreational waters suggest that turbulence may be a factor.  The frequency of Blastocystis detection in recreational water ways increased substantially on holidays, with water samples from one river testing positive 13% of the time on work days, and 31% of the time on holidays.
                Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3135064/?tool=pubmed


Blastocystis Linked to Urticaria in Egyptian Population:   A number of studies have suggested that one of Blastocystis’ most significant symptoms could be a persistent itchy rash with raised bumps. In a study of 105 patients (55 symptomatic and 50 asymptomatic controls), researchers report that 60.6% of the patients were infected with Blastocystis, and this was found at a much higher rate than the controls (p<0.001).  There was no significant difference between the Blastocystis infection rates in patients with acute and chronic urticarial.  Blastocystis sp. subtype 3 was the only subtype found in patients and controls.
                Link:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21790724