Abstract
Enterocytozoon bieneusi is the most common microsporidium associated with AIDS patients. Moreover, its detection in increasing numbers of immunocompetent patients has made it an emerging pathogen. This organism was also identified in a wide range of animals, and the zoonotic potential of human infections is of particular interest. In this study, 538 fecal samples from cattle in Korea were analyzed for the presence of E. bieneusi by PCR. Approximately 15% were found to be positive, with higher rates being detected over the summer months. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of the rRNA gene of ten E. bieneusi positive samples were amplified using nested PCR and sequenced. Genetic polymorphisms, which were represented by six distinct genotypes (CEbA–CEbF), were found among the E. bieneusi isolates. Five isolates from this study had identical ribosomal ITS to the previously known E. bieneusi genotype ITSs in cattle and other animals. Four isolates were previously unreported but were quite similar to the previously known genotypes of E. bieneusi from cattle and other animals. One isolate was identical to the human E. bieneusi type D, which indicated some E. bieneusi isolates from cattle in the country may be of public health importance. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first report of E. bieneusi study in cattle in Asia.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beaugerie L, Teilhac MF, Deluol A, Fritsch J, Girard P, Rozenbaum W, Le Quintrec Y, Chatelet F (1992) Cholangiopathy associated with Microsporidia infection of the common bile duct mucosa in a patient with HIV infection. Ann Intern Med 117:401–402
Breitenmoser AC, Mathis A, Burgi E, Weber R, Deplazes P (1999) High prevalence of Enterocytozoon bieneusi in swine with four genotypes that differ from those identified in humans. Parasitology 118:447–453
Buckholt MA, Lee JH, Tzipori S (2002) Prevalence of Enterocytozoon bieneusi in swine: an 18-month survey at a slaughterhouse in Massachusetts. Appl Environ Microbiol 68:2595–2599
Cali A, Owen RL (1990) Intracellular development of Enterocytozoon, a unique microsporidian found in the intestine of AIDS patients. J Protozool 37:145–155
Chalifoux LV, Carville A, Pauley D, Thompson B, Lackner AA, Mansfield KG (2000) Enterocytozoon bieneusi as a cause of proliferative serositis in simian immunodeficiency virus-infected immunodeficient macaques (Macaca mulatta). Arch Pathol Lab Med 124:1480–1484
De Silva AJ, Scwartz DA, Visvesvara GS, De Moura H, Slemenda SB, Pieniazek NJ (1996) Sensitive PCR diagnosis of infections by Enterocytozoon bieneusi (Microsporidia) using primers based on the region coding for small-subunit rRNA. J Clin Microbiol 34:986–987
del Aguila C, Izquierdo F, Navajas R (1999) Enterocytozoon bieneusi in animals: rabbits and dogs as new hosts. J Eukaryot Microbiol 46:8S–9S
Dengjel B, Zahler M, Hermanns W, Heinritzi K, Spillmann T, Thomschke A, Loscher T, Gothe R, Rinder H (2001) Zoonotic potential of Enterocytozoon bieneusi. J Clin Microbiol 39:4495–4499
Deplazes P, Mathis A, Mueller C (1996) Molecular epidemiology of Encephalitozoon cuniculi and first detection of Enterocytozoon bieneusi in fecal samples of pigs. J Eukaryot Microbiol 43:93S
Desportes I, Le Charpentier Y, Galian A (1985) Occurrence of a new microsporidian, Enterocytozoon bieneusi n.g., n. sp., in the enterocytes of a human patient with AIDS. J Protozool 32:250–254
Didier ES, Weiss LM (2006) Microsporidiosis: current status. Curr Opin Infect Dis 19:485–492
Fayer R, Santín M, Trout JM (2003) First detection of microsporidia in dairy calves in North America. Parasitol Res 90:383–386
Franzen C, Muller A (1999) Molecular techniques for detection, species differentiation, and phylogenetic analysis of microsporidia. Clin Microbiol Rev 12:243–285
Kondova I, Mansfield K, Buckholt MA, Stein B, Widmer G, Carville A, Lackner A, Tzipori S (1998) Transmission and serial propagation of Enterocytozoon bieneusi from humans and Rhesus macaques in gnotobiotic piglets. Infect Immun 66:5515–5519
Mansfield KG, Carville A, Hebert D, Chalifoux L, Shvetz D, Link C, Tzipori S, Lackner A (1998) Localization of persistent Enterocytozoon bieneusi infection in normal rhesus macaques to the hepatobiliary tree. J Clin Microbiol 36:3071–3074
Mathis A, Breitenmoser AC, Deplazes P (1999) Detection of new Enterocytozoon genotypes in fecal samples of farm dog and cat. Parasite 6:189–193
Mathis A, Weber R, Deplazes P (2005) Zoonotic potential of the microsporidia. Clin Microbiol Rev 18:423–445
McWhinney PHM, Nathwani D, Green ST (1991) Microsporidia detected in association with AIDS-related sclerosing cholangitis. AIDS 5:1394–1395
Pol S, Romana CA, Richard S (1993) Microsporidia infection in patient with the acquired immunodeficiency virus and unexplained cholangitis. N Engl J Med 328:95–99
Rinder H, Thomschke A, Dengjel B, Gothe R, Loscher T, Zahler M (2000) Close genotypic relationship between Enterocytozoon bieneusi from humans and pigs and first detection in cattle. J Parasitol 86:185–188
Santín M, Trout JM, Fayer R (2004) Prevalence of Enterocytozoon bieneusi in post-weaned dairy calves in the eastern United States. Parasitol Res 93:287–289
Shadduck JA, Orenstein JM (1993) Comparative pathology of microsporidiosis. Arch Pathol Lab Med 117:1215–1219
Sulaiman IM, Fayer R, Lal AA, Trout JM, Schaefer FW, Xiao L (2003) Molecular characterization of microsporidia indicates that wild mammals harbor host-adapted Enterocytozoon spp. as well as human pathogenic Enterocytozoon bieneusi. Appl Environ Microbiol 69:4495–4501
Sulaiman IM, Fayer R, Yang C, Santín M, Matos O, Xiao L (2004) Molecular characterization of Enterocytozoon bieneusi in cattle indicates that only some isolates have zoonotic potential. Parasitol Res 92:328–334
Weber R, Bryan RT (1994) Microsporidial infections in immunodeficient and immunocompetent patients. Clin Infect Dis 19:517–521
Weber R, Kuster H, Keller R, Bachi T, Spycher MA, Briner J, Russ E, Luthy R (1992) Pulmonary and intestinal microsporidiosis in a patient with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Am Rev Respir Dis 146:1603–1605
Weber R, Bryan RT, Schwartz DA (1996) Human microsporidia infections. Clin Microbiol Rev 7:426–461
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by grant no. RTI05-03-02 from the Regional Technology Innovation Program of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (MOCIE), and by the Brain Korea 21 Project in Republic of Korea. The author wish to thank the technical staff and volunteer students in College of Veterinary Medicine, Chonbuk National University for technical supports and collection of samples.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lee, J.H. Prevalence and molecular characteristics of Enterocytozoon bieneusi in cattle in Korea. Parasitol Res 101, 391–396 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-007-0468-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-007-0468-0