30 posts · 11,228 views
I hold a PhD in Health Sciences and have been working in the field of clinical microbiology for almost 10 years. My research deals with the diagnosis, epidemiology, clinical significance, genetic diversity, and taxonomy of common intestinal 'amoebae' with special emphasis on Blastocystis. Since 2006, I have published more than 50 scientific, peer-reviewed papers, of which 25 or so are Blastocystis-specific papers. I'm based at the Department of Microbiology and Infection Control, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark and did my post doc at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. F1000 Associate Faculty Member (since 09 December 2009). ORCID # 0000-0002-1417-7048 Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Blastocystis-Parasite-Blog/161212370703270
Blastocystis Parasite Blog
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by Christen Rune Stensvold in Blastocystis Parasite Blog
A short wrap-up of the Cell Symposium on Microbiome and Host Health in Lisbon, Portugal, May 12-14, 2013.... Read more »
Koren O, Knights D, Gonzalez A, Waldron L, Segata N, Knight R, Huttenhower C, & Ley RE. (2013) A guide to enterotypes across the human body: meta-analysis of microbial community structures in human microbiome datasets. PLoS computational biology, 9(1). PMID: 23326225
Andersen LO, Vedel Nielsen H, & Stensvold CR. (2013) Waiting for the human intestinal Eukaryotome. The ISME journal. PMID: 23407309
Ivanov II, & Honda K. (2012) Intestinal commensal microbes as immune modulators. Cell host , 12(4), 496-508. PMID: 23084918
Brown J, de Vos WM, Distefano PS, Doré J, Huttenhower C, Knight R, Lawley TD, Raes J, & Turnbaugh P. (2013) Translating the human microbiome. Nature biotechnology, 31(4), 304-8. PMID: 23563424
Blaser M, Bork P, Fraser C, Knight R, & Wang J. (2013) The microbiome explored: recent insights and future challenges. Nature reviews. Microbiology, 11(3), 213-7. PMID: 23377500
by Christen Rune Stensvold in Blastocystis Parasite Blog
A follow-up on Carl Zimmer's post in "Phenomena" (National Geographic) on 'Bugs as Drugs'.... Read more »
Hyman P, Atterbury R, & Barrow P. (2013) Fleas and smaller fleas: virotherapy for parasite infections. Trends in microbiology. PMID: 23540830
van Nood E, Vrieze A, Nieuwdorp M, Fuentes S, Zoetendal EG, de Vos WM, Visser CE, Kuijper EJ, Bartelsman JF, Tijssen JG.... (2013) Duodenal infusion of donor feces for recurrent Clostridium difficile. The New England journal of medicine, 368(5), 407-15. PMID: 23323867
Weinstock JV. (2012) Autoimmunity: The worm returns. Nature, 491(7423), 183-5. PMID: 23135449
by Christen Rune Stensvold in Blastocystis Parasite Blog
A post on a Blastocystis abstract submitted for oral presentation in the category 'Emerging Infectious Diseases' at the ECCMID 2013 conference in Berlin.... Read more »
Alfellani MA, Stensvold CR, Vidal-Lapiedra A, Onuoha ES, Fagbenro-Beyioku AF, & Clark CG. (2013) Variable geographic distribution of Blastocystis subtypes and its potential implications. Acta tropica, 126(1), 11-8. PMID: 23290980
Stensvold CR. (2013) Comparison of sequencing (barcode region) and sequence-tagged-site PCR for Blastocystis subtyping. Journal of clinical microbiology, 51(1), 190-4. PMID: 23115257
Stensvold CR, Suresh GK, Tan KS, Thompson RC, Traub RJ, Viscogliosi E, Yoshikawa H, & Clark CG. (2007) Terminology for Blastocystis subtypes--a consensus. Trends in parasitology, 23(3), 93-6. PMID: 17241816
by Christen Rune Stensvold in Blastocystis Parasite Blog
The first post in a series of monthly updates on Blastocystis research mainly based on emerging papers in PubMed.... Read more »
Gould R, & Boorom K. (2013) Blastocystis surface antigen is stable in chemically preserved stool samples for at least 1 year. Parasitology research. PMID: 23609598
Dogruman-Al F, Simsek Z, Boorom K, Ekici E, Sahin M, Tuncer C, Kustimur S, & Altinbas A. (2010) Comparison of methods for detection of Blastocystis infection in routinely submitted stool samples, and also in IBS/IBD Patients in Ankara, Turkey. PloS one, 5(11). PMID: 21124983
Alfellani MA, Stensvold CR, Vidal-Lapiedra A, Onuoha ES, Fagbenro-Beyioku AF, & Clark CG. (2013) Variable geographic distribution of Blastocystis subtypes and its potential implications. Acta tropica, 126(1), 11-8. PMID: 23290980
Alfellani MA, Jacob AS, Perea NO, Krecek RC, Taner-Mulla D, Verweij JJ, Levecke B, Tannich E, Clark CG, & Stensvold CR. (2013) Diversity and distribution of Blastocystis sp. subtypes in non-human primates. Parasitology, 1-6. PMID: 23561720
Abdulsalam AM, Ithoi I, Al-Mekhlafi HM, Khan AH, Ahmed A, Surin J, & Mak JW. (2013) Prevalence, predictors and clinical significance of Blastocystis sp. in Sebha, Libya. Parasites , 86. PMID: 23566585
Clark CG, van der Giezen M, Alfellani MA, & Stensvold CR. (2013) Recent developments in blastocystis research. Advances in parasitology, 1-32. PMID: 23548084
Malheiros AF, Stensvold CR, Clark CG, Braga GB, & Shaw JJ. (2011) Short report: Molecular characterization of Blastocystis obtained from members of the indigenous Tapirapé ethnic group from the Brazilian Amazon region, Brazil. The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene, 85(6), 1050-3. PMID: 22144442
by Christen Rune Stensvold in Blastocystis Parasite Blog
An #openaccess link to a 2013 review in Advances in Parasitology on recent developments in Blastocystis research.... Read more »
Clark CG, van der Giezen M, Alfellani MA, & Stensvold CR. (2013) Recent developments in blastocystis research. Advances in parasitology, 1-32. PMID: 23548084
by Christen Rune Stensvold in Blastocystis Parasite Blog
A blog post summarising some of the findings in a major molecular epidemiological study of Blastocystis in non-human primates, including apes, Old and New World monkeys, and prosimians.... Read more »
Yildirim S, Yeoman CJ, Sipos M, Torralba M, Wilson BA, Goldberg TL, Stumpf RM, Leigh SR, White BA, & Nelson KE. (2010) Characterization of the fecal microbiome from non-human wild primates reveals species specific microbial communities. PloS one, 5(11). PMID: 21103066
ALFELLANI, M., JACOB, A., PEREA, N., KRECEK, R., TANER-MULLA, D., VERWEIJ, J., LEVECKE, B., TANNICH, E., CLARK, C., & STENSVOLD, C. (2013) Diversity and distribution of Blastocystis sp. subtypes in non-human primates. Parasitology, 1-6. DOI: 10.1017/S0031182013000255
Stensvold CR, Arendrup MC, Nielsen HV, Bada A, & Thorsen S. (2008) Symptomatic infection with Blastocystis sp. subtype 8 successfully treated with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Annals of tropical medicine and parasitology, 102(3), 271-4. PMID: 18348782
Stensvold CR, Alfellani M, & Clark CG. (2012) Levels of genetic diversity vary dramatically between Blastocystis subtypes. Infection, genetics and evolution : journal of molecular epidemiology and evolutionary genetics in infectious diseases, 12(2), 263-73. PMID: 22116021
by Christen Rune Stensvold in Blastocystis Parasite Blog
We recently published a letter in Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology on prevalence data on Blastocystis and Dientamoeba fragilis in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and controls, - here's a small summary.... Read more »
Petersen AM, Stensvold CR, Mirsepasi H, Engberg J, Friis-Møller A, Porsbo LJ, Hammerum AM, Nordgaard-Lassen I, Nielsen HV, & Krogfelt KA. (2013) Active ulcerative colitis associated with low prevalence of Blastocystis and Dientamoeba fragilis infection. Scandinavian journal of gastroenterology. PMID: 23528075
by Christen Rune Stensvold in Blastocystis Parasite Blog
Over the past few years nucleic acid based methods have revolutionised parasite diagnostics in modern clinical microbiology (CM) labs. Real-time PCR is really gaining a foothold in CM labs, but despite the opportunity for plexing, mostly only up to 6 DNA targets can be included in each assay (due to the number of available channels). LUMINEX xMAP technology is appealing due increasing opportunities but is still limited by probe-based detection.... Read more »
Dunbar SA. (2006) Applications of Luminex xMAP technology for rapid, high-throughput multiplexed nucleic acid detection. Clinica chimica acta; international journal of clinical chemistry, 363(1-2), 71-82. PMID: 16102740
Santos HL, Bandyopadhyay K, Bandea R, Peralta RH, Peralta JM, & Da Silva AJ. (2013) LUMINEX(R): a new technology for the simultaneous identification of five Entamoeba spp. commonly found in human stools. Parasites , 6(1), 69. PMID: 23497666
Stensvold CR, Lebbad M, & Verweij JJ. (2011) The impact of genetic diversity in protozoa on molecular diagnostics. Trends in parasitology, 27(2), 53-8. PMID: 21168365
Stensvold CR, Lebbad M, Victory EL, Verweij JJ, Tannich E, Alfellani M, Legarraga P, & Clark CG. (2011) Increased sampling reveals novel lineages of Entamoeba: consequences of genetic diversity and host specificity for taxonomy and molecular detection. Protist, 162(3), 525-41. PMID: 21295520
Taniuchi M, Verweij JJ, Sethabutr O, Bodhidatta L, Garcia L, Maro A, Kumburu H, Gratz J, Kibiki G, & Houpt ER. (2011) Multiplex polymerase chain reaction method to detect Cyclospora, Cystoisospora, and Microsporidia in stool samples. Diagnostic microbiology and infectious disease, 71(4), 386-90. PMID: 21982218
by Christen Rune Stensvold in Blastocystis Parasite Blog
A post on evidence of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) from bacteria in a free-living extremophilic eukaryote with parallels to HGT in anerobic intestinal parasitic protists.... Read more »
Schönknecht G, Chen WH, Ternes CM, Barbier GG, Shrestha RP, Stanke M, Bräutigam A, Baker BJ, Banfield JF, Garavito RM.... (2013) Gene transfer from bacteria and archaea facilitated evolution of an extremophilic eukaryote. Science (New York, N.Y.), 339(6124), 1207-10. PMID: 23471408
Keeling PJ. (2009) Functional and ecological impacts of horizontal gene transfer in eukaryotes. Current opinion in genetics , 19(6), 613-9. PMID: 19897356
Loftus B, Anderson I, Davies R, Alsmark UC, Samuelson J, Amedeo P, Roncaglia P, Berriman M, Hirt RP, Mann BJ.... (2005) The genome of the protist parasite Entamoeba histolytica. Nature, 433(7028), 865-8. PMID: 15729342
Denoeud F, Roussel M, Noel B, Wawrzyniak I, Da Silva C, Diogon M, Viscogliosi E, Brochier-Armanet C, Couloux A, Poulain J.... (2011) Genome sequence of the stramenopile Blastocystis, a human anaerobic parasite. Genome biology, 12(3). PMID: 21439036
by Christen Rune Stensvold in Blastocystis Parasite Blog
We address shortcomings of state-of-the-art methodologies used to explore micro-eukaryotic communities and suggest directions for future research.... Read more »
Kittelmann, S., Seedorf, H., Walters, W., Clemente, J., Knight, R., Gordon, J., & Janssen, P. (2013) Simultaneous Amplicon Sequencing to Explore Co-Occurrence Patterns of Bacterial, Archaeal and Eukaryotic Microorganisms in Rumen Microbial Communities. PLoS ONE, 8(2). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0047879
Andersen LO, Vedel Nielsen H, & Stensvold CR. (2013) Waiting for the human intestinal Eukaryotome. The ISME journal. PMID: 23407309
Scanlan PD, & Marchesi JR. (2008) Micro-eukaryotic diversity of the human distal gut microbiota: qualitative assessment using culture-dependent and -independent analysis of faeces. The ISME journal, 2(12), 1183-93. PMID: 18670396
Pandey PK, Siddharth J, Verma P, Bavdekar A, Patole MS, & Shouche YS. (2012) Molecular typing of fecal eukaryotic microbiota of human infants and their respective mothers. Journal of biosciences, 37(2), 221-6. PMID: 22581327
Hamad, I., Sokhna, C., Raoult, D., & Bittar, F. (2012) Molecular Detection of Eukaryotes in a Single Human Stool Sample from Senegal. PLoS ONE, 7(7). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0040888
Paliy O, & Agans R. (2012) Application of phylogenetic microarrays to interrogation of human microbiota. FEMS microbiology ecology, 79(1), 2-11. PMID: 22092522
by Christen Rune Stensvold in Blastocystis Parasite Blog
Multidisciplinary studies are needed to obtain enough information for us to answer central questions about Blastocystis pathogenicity. I suggest a couple of research areas where efforts appear relevant.... Read more »
Denoeud, F., Roussel, M., Noel, B., Wawrzyniak, I., Da Silva, C., Diogon, M., Viscogliosi, E., Brochier-Armanet, C., Couloux, A., Poulain, J.... (2011) Genome sequence of the stramenopile Blastocystis, a human anaerobic parasite. Genome Biology, 12(3). DOI: 10.1186/gb-2011-12-3-r29
Stensvold, C., Ahmed, U., Andersen, L., & Nielsen, H. (2012) Development and Evaluation of a Genus-Specific, Probe-Based, Internal-Process-Controlled Real-Time PCR Assay for Sensitive and Specific Detection of Blastocystis spp. Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 50(6), 1847-1851. DOI: 10.1128/JCM.00007-12
Alfellani, M., Stensvold, C., Vidal-Lapiedra, A., Onuoha, E., Fagbenro-Beyioku, A., & Clark, C. (2013) Variable geographic distribution of Blastocystis subtypes and its potential implications. Acta Tropica. DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2012.12.011
Stensvold, C., Alfellani, M., & Clark, C. (2012) Levels of genetic diversity vary dramatically between Blastocystis subtypes. Infection, Genetics and Evolution, 12(2), 263-273. DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2011.11.002
Wawrzyniak, I., Texier, C., Poirier, P., Viscogliosi, E., Tan, K., Delbac, F., & El Alaoui, H. (2012) Characterization of two cysteine proteases secreted by Blastocystis ST7, a human intestinal parasite. Parasitology International, 61(3), 437-442. DOI: 10.1016/j.parint.2012.02.007
by Christen Rune Stensvold in Blastocystis Parasite Blog
Nine subtypes have been found in humans, but some of them only on rare occasions. A recent study going out from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and led by Dr Alfellani and published just now in Acta Tropica looked at 356 Blastocystis sequences from samples from the UK and Libya, but also from sub-Saharan Africa, namely Liberia and Nigeria.... Read more »
Alfellani, M., Stensvold, C., Vidal-Lapiedra, A., Onuoha, E., Fagbenro-Beyioku, A., & Clark, C. (2013) Variable geographic distribution of Blastocystis subtypes and its potential implications. Acta Tropica. DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2012.12.011
Stensvold, C. (2012) Comparison of Sequencing (Barcode Region) and Sequence-Tagged-Site PCR for Blastocystis Subtyping. Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 51(1), 190-194. DOI: 10.1128/JCM.02541-12
Domínguez-Márquez, M., Guna, R., Muñoz, C., Gómez-Muñoz, M., & Borrás, R. (2009) High prevalence of subtype 4 among isolates of Blastocystis hominis from symptomatic patients of a health district of Valencia (Spain). Parasitology Research, 105(4), 949-955. DOI: 10.1007/s00436-009-1485-y
Stensvold, C., Alfellani, M., & Clark, C. (2012) Levels of genetic diversity vary dramatically between Blastocystis subtypes. Infection, Genetics and Evolution, 12(2), 263-273. DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2011.11.002
Stensvold, C., Christiansen, D., Olsen, K., & Nielsen, H. (2011) Blastocystis sp. Subtype 4 is Common in Danish Blastocystis-Positive Patients Presenting with Acute Diarrhea. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 84(6), 883-885. DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.2011.11-0005
by Christen Rune Stensvold in Blastocystis Parasite Blog
2012 is coming to an end and it is also time for taking stock of the year Blastocystis-wise. ... Read more »
Poirier P, Wawrzyniak I, Vivarès CP, Delbac F, & El Alaoui H. (2012) New insights into Blastocystis spp.: a potential link with irritable bowel syndrome. PLoS pathogens, 8(3). PMID: 22438803
Tsaousis AD, Ollagnier de Choudens S, Gentekaki E, Long S, Gaston D, Stechmann A, Vinella D, Py B, Fontecave M, Barras F.... (2012) Evolution of Fe/S cluster biogenesis in the anaerobic parasite Blastocystis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109(26), 10426-31. PMID: 22699510
van Hellemond JJ, Molhoek N, Koelewijn R, Wismans PJ, & van Genderen PJ. (2012) Is paromomycin the drug of choice for eradication of Blastocystis in adults?. Journal of infection and chemotherapy : official journal of the Japan Society of Chemotherapy. PMID: 23053509
Pandey PK, Siddharth J, Verma P, Bavdekar A, Patole MS, & Shouche YS. (2012) Molecular typing of fecal eukaryotic microbiota of human infants and their respective mothers. Journal of biosciences, 37(2), 221-6. PMID: 22581327
Hamad I, Sokhna C, Raoult D, & Bittar F. (2012) Molecular detection of eukaryotes in a single human stool sample from Senegal. PloS one, 7(7). PMID: 22808282
Scanlan PD. (2012) Blastocystis: past pitfalls and future perspectives. Trends in parasitology, 28(8), 327-34. PMID: 22738855
Machicado JD, Marcos LA, Tello R, Canales M, Terashima A, & Gotuzzo E. (2012) Diagnosis of soil-transmitted helminthiasis in an Amazonic community of Peru using multiple diagnostic techniques. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 106(6), 333-9. PMID: 22515992
Cañete R, Díaz MM, Avalos García R, Laúd Martinez PM, & Manuel Ponce F. (2012) Intestinal parasites in children from a day care centre in matanzas city, cuba. PloS one, 7(12). PMID: 23236493
Stensvold CR. (2012) Comparison of sequencing (barcode region) and STS PCR for Blastocystis subtyping. Journal of clinical microbiology. PMID: 23115257
Engsbro AL, & Stensvold CR. (2012) Blastocystis: to treat or not to treat .. But how?. Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 55(10), 1431-2. PMID: 22893582
Stensvold CR. (2012) Thinking Blastocystis out of the box. Trends in parasitology, 28(8), 305. PMID: 22704911
Stensvold CR, Ahmed UN, Andersen LO, & Nielsen HV. (2012) Development and evaluation of a genus-specific, probe-based, internal-process-controlled real-time PCR assay for sensitive and specific detection of Blastocystis spp. Journal of clinical microbiology, 50(6), 1847-51. PMID: 22422846
Forsell J, Granlund M, Stensvold CR, Clark CG, & Evengård B. (2012) Subtype analysis of Blastocystis isolates in Swedish patients. European journal of clinical microbiology , 31(7), 1689-96. PMID: 22350386
Malheiros AF, Stensvold CR, Clark CG, Braga GB, & Shaw JJ. (2011) Short report: Molecular characterization of Blastocystis obtained from members of the indigenous Tapirapé ethnic group from the Brazilian Amazon region, Brazil. The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene, 85(6), 1050-3. PMID: 22144442
Stensvold CR, Alfellani M, & Clark CG. (2012) Levels of genetic diversity vary dramatically between Blastocystis subtypes. Infection, genetics and evolution : journal of molecular epidemiology and evolutionary genetics in infectious diseases, 12(2), 263-73. PMID: 22116021
Nagel R, Cuttell L, Stensvold CR, Mills PC, Bielefeldt-Ohmann H, & Traub RJ. (2012) Blastocystis subtypes in symptomatic and asymptomatic family members and pets and response to therapy. Internal medicine journal, 42(11), 1187-95. PMID: 22032439
by Christen Rune Stensvold in Blastocystis Parasite Blog
A lot of effort is being put into collecting stool samples from the background population. There is a project called My Microbes, there's the uBiome project and the American Gut Project, just to mention some. For instance, for less than $100 you can have your entire bacterial intestinal microbiome seqeunced and identified. Maybe, you will even get to know your "enterotype"?!... Read more »
O’Toole, P. (2012) Changes in the intestinal microbiota from adulthood through to old age. Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 44-46. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-0691.2012.03867.x
Gosalbes, M., Abellan, J., Durbán, A., Pérez-Cobas, A., Latorre, A., & Moya, A. (2012) Metagenomics of human microbiome: beyond 16s rDNA. Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 47-49. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-0691.2012.03865.x
Baquero, F., & Nombela, C. (2012) The microbiome as a human organ. Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 2-4. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-0691.2012.03916.x
Salonen, A., Salojärvi, J., Lahti, L., & de Vos, W. (2012) The adult intestinal core microbiota is determined by analysis depth and health status. Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 16-20. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-0691.2012.03855.x
Arumugam, M., Raes, J., Pelletier, E., Le Paslier, D., Yamada, T., Mende, D., Fernandes, G., Tap, J., Bruls, T., Batto, J.... (2011) Enterotypes of the human gut microbiome. Nature, 474(7353), 666-666. DOI: 10.1038/nature10187
by Christen Rune Stensvold in Blastocystis Parasite Blog
Common parasites such as Blastocystis and Dientamoeba fragilis are often incriminated of causing chronic or intermittent diarrhoea or other intestinal symptoms despite the absence of compelling evidence. What most of us probably fail to realise is that parasites may actually prevent and ameliorate intestinal illness, including inflammatory bowel disease, other types of colitis, and other types of autoimmune diseases.... Read more »
Jostins L, Ripke S, Weersma RK, Duerr RH, McGovern DP, Hui KY, Lee JC, Schumm LP, Sharma Y, Anderson CA.... (2012) Host-microbe interactions have shaped the genetic architecture of inflammatory bowel disease. Nature, 491(7422), 119-24. PMID: 23128233
Berger, A. (2000) Science commentary: Th1 and Th2 responses: what are they?. BMJ, 321(7258), 424-424. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.321.7258.424
Elliott, D., & Weinstock, J. (2012) Where are we on worms?. Current Opinion in Gastroenterology, 28(6), 551-556. DOI: 10.1097/MOG.0b013e3283572f73
Elliott, D., & Weinstock, J. (2012) Helminth-host immunological interactions: prevention and control of immune-mediated diseases. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1247(1), 83-96. DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.06292.x
Weinstock, J. (2012) Autoimmunity: The worm returns. Nature, 491(7423), 183-185. DOI: 10.1038/491183a
Elliott DE, Summers RW, & Weinstock JV. (2007) Helminths as governors of immune-mediated inflammation. International journal for parasitology, 37(5), 457-64. PMID: 17313951
by Christen Rune Stensvold in Blastocystis Parasite Blog
How strange the world of clinical microbiology is when you compare the fields of mycology, parasitology, bacteriology and virology to each other. Such different possibilities, opportunities, limitations, and diagnostic challenges!... Read more »
Clark CG, & Diamond LS. (2002) Methods for cultivation of luminal parasitic protists of clinical importance. Clinical microbiology reviews, 15(3), 329-41. PMID: 12097242
Verweij PE, Kema GH, Zwaan B, & Melchers WJ. (2012) Triazole fungicides and the selection of resistance to medical triazoles in the opportunistic mould Aspergillus fumigatus. Pest management science. PMID: 23109245
Stensvold, C., Jørgensen, L., & Arendrup, M. (2012) Azole-Resistant Invasive Aspergillosis: Relationship to Agriculture. Current Fungal Infection Reports, 6(3), 178-191. DOI: 10.1007/s12281-012-0097-7
Maertens J, Theunissen K, Verhoef G, & Van Eldere J. (2004) False-positive Aspergillus galactomannan antigen test results. Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 39(2), 289-90. PMID: 15307045
Munasinghe VS, Stark D, & Ellis JT. (2012) New advances in the in-vitro culture of Dientamoeba fragilis. Parasitology, 139(7), 864-9. PMID: 22336222
by Christen Rune Stensvold in Blastocystis Parasite Blog
After spending more than 8 years in clinical microbiology with special reference to parasitology, I’ve come to realise that it truly is a bug’s life! Use of nucleic acid-based methods such as PCR in routine clinical microbiology diagnostic labs have revealed that single-celled parasites are colonising the intestine of up to 50% of the Danish population! And so what? Well, this finding has several implications.... Read more »
Stensvold CR, Lebbad M, & Clark CG. (2012) Last of the human protists: the phylogeny and genetic diversity of Iodamoeba. Molecular biology and evolution, 29(1), 39-42. PMID: 21940643
Stensvold CR. (2012) Thinking Blastocystis out of the box. Trends in parasitology, 28(8), 305. PMID: 22704911
by Christen Rune Stensvold in Blastocystis Parasite Blog
In the "To Treat of Not To Treat" series (please look up previous post here), we have come to the "...But How?" episode.
Blastocystis may be susceptible to a number of drugs - in vitro. In vitro is not the opposite of in vivo. In vitro just means that the test has been done on an organism that has been isolated from its usual habitat and tested e.g. in a flask, test tube, etc. In the lab, strains can be challenged and manipulated in multiple ways, but there is no guarantee that the outcome of an in vitro susceptibility test is reproducible in vivo, i.e. when the organism is challenged in its natural habitat and under "natural" conditions. Hence, if you test Blastocystis against metronidazole or any other compound (such as iodine) in vitro, and you observe an effect, you cannot rely on being able to reproduce the effect in vivo. This is due to a variety of reasons including pharmaco-kinetics and pharmaco-dynamics, including the ability of the drug to reach the parasite in its ecological niche, impact of the drug on other micro-organisms, strain-dependent differences in susceptibility (including inherent or acquired resistance), etc.... Read more »
Coyle CM, Varughese J, Weiss LM, & Tanowitz HB. (2012) Blastocystis: to treat or not to treat.. Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 54(1), 105-10. PMID: 22075794
Engsbro AL, & Stensvold CR. (2012) Blastocystis: To Treat Or Not To Treat..But How?. Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. PMID: 22893582
Stensvold CR, Smith HV, Nagel R, Olsen KE, & Traub RJ. (2010) Eradication of Blastocystis carriage with antimicrobials: reality or delusion?. Journal of clinical gastroenterology, 44(2), 85-90. PMID: 19834337
by Christen Rune Stensvold in Blastocystis Parasite Blog
To quote one of my colleagues attending the recent IWOP 2012 meeting in Tarrytown, NY, Blastocystis subtyping in humans and animals is becoming 'trendy', and so we keep trying to advocate for a standardisation of the metholodology of Blastocystis subtyping.... Read more »
Clark CG. (1997) Extensive genetic diversity in Blastocystis hominis. Molecular and biochemical parasitology, 87(1), 79-83. PMID: 9233675
Fayer R, Santin M, & Macarisin D. (2012) Detection of concurrent infection of dairy cattle with Blastocystis, Cryptosporidium, Giardia, and Enterocytozoon by molecular and microscopic methods. Parasitology research. PMID: 22710524
Parkar U, Traub RJ, Vitali S, Elliot A, Levecke B, Robertson I, Geurden T, Steele J, Drake B, & Thompson RC. (2010) Molecular characterization of Blastocystis isolates from zoo animals and their animal-keepers. Veterinary parasitology, 169(1-2), 8-17. PMID: 20089360
Petrášová J, Uzlíková M, Kostka M, Petrželková KJ, Huffman MA, & Modrý D. (2011) Diversity and host specificity of Blastocystis in syntopic primates on Rubondo Island, Tanzania. International journal for parasitology, 41(11), 1113-20. PMID: 21854778
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by Christen Rune Stensvold in Blastocystis Parasite Blog
Hamad et al., just published their work on “Molecular Detection of Eukaryotes in a Single Human Stool Sample from Senegal” in PLoS One. They used a panel of 22 broad-specificity eukaryotic primers on genomic DNA extracted directly from faeces, cloned PCR products and did a blast search of the resulting sequences. They found about 18 micro-eukaryotic species in this particular faecal sample, most of which were fungi, and only two of which were “parasites”, namely Blastocystis sp. (subtype not given) and Entamoeba hartmanni, a so-called non-pathogenic amoebic species.They used both culture and culture-independent methods (PCR directly on genomic DNA from faeces) for the detection of intestinal fungi.... Read more »
Hamad I, Sokhna C, Raoult D, & Bittar F. (2012) Molecular detection of eukaryotes in a single human stool sample from senegal. PloS one, 7(7). PMID: 22808282
Pandey PK, Siddharth J, Verma P, Bavdekar A, Patole MS, & Shouche YS. (2012) Molecular typing of fecal eukaryotic microbiota of human infants and their respective mothers. Journal of biosciences, 37(2), 221-6. PMID: 22581327
Scanlan PD, & Marchesi JR. (2008) Micro-eukaryotic diversity of the human distal gut microbiota: qualitative assessment using culture-dependent and -independent analysis of faeces. The ISME journal, 2(12), 1183-93. PMID: 18670396
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