Screening for <i>Schistosoma</i> spp. and <i>Leishmania</i> spp. DNA in Serum of Ghanaian Patients with Acquired Immunodeficiency
Both <i>Schistosoma</i> spp. (species) and <i>Leishmania</i> spp. are prevalent in Ghana in West Africa. However, little is known about their local occurrence in immunocompromised individuals. In the study presented here, the real-time PCR-(polymerase chain reaction-)based sc...
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MDPI AG
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Pathogens |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/11/7/760 |
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| author | Franziska Weinreich Felix Weinreich Andreas Hahn Ralf Matthias Hagen Holger Rohde Fred Stephen Sarfo Torsten Feldt Albert Dompreh Shadrack Osei Asibey Richard Boateng Hagen Frickmann Kirsten Alexandra Eberhardt |
| author_facet | Franziska Weinreich Felix Weinreich Andreas Hahn Ralf Matthias Hagen Holger Rohde Fred Stephen Sarfo Torsten Feldt Albert Dompreh Shadrack Osei Asibey Richard Boateng Hagen Frickmann Kirsten Alexandra Eberhardt |
| author_sort | Franziska Weinreich |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Both <i>Schistosoma</i> spp. (species) and <i>Leishmania</i> spp. are prevalent in Ghana in West Africa. However, little is known about their local occurrence in immunocompromised individuals. In the study presented here, the real-time PCR-(polymerase chain reaction-)based screening for repetitive DNA (deoxyribonucleotide acid) sequences from the genomes of <i>Leishmania (L.)</i> spp. and <i>Schistosoma (S.)</i> spp. was performed in the serum of HIV-(human immunodeficiency virus-)infected Ghanaian patients. In 1083 assessed serum samples from HIV-positive and HIV-negative Ghanian patients, <i>Leishmania</i> spp.-specific DNA was not detected, while the diagnostic accuracy-adjusted prevalence estimation suggested a 3.6% prevalence of the <i>S. mansoni</i> complex and a 0.5% prevalence of the <i>S. haematobium</i> complex. Associations of schistosomiasis with younger age, as well as with the male sex, could be shown but not with an HIV status. Weakly significant signals for the associations of schistosomiasis with an increased viral load, reduced CD4+ (CD = cluster of differentiation) T cell count, and a reduced CD4+/CD8+ ratio could be observed but was inconsistently lost in the case of the stratification on the species complex level. So, it is concluded that factors other than HIV status are more likely to have influenced the occurrence of <i>Schistosoma</i> spp. infections in the assessed Ghanaian patients. Potential associations between HIV infection-associated factors, such as the viral load and the immune status of the patients, for which weak signals were observed in this hypothesis-forming retrospective assessment, should be confirmed by prospective, sufficiently powered investigations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T10:13:14Z |
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| id | doaj.art-35b3fb8ac2aa4953a07b4ca322aa6899 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-0817 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T10:13:14Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Pathogens |
| spelling | doaj.art-35b3fb8ac2aa4953a07b4ca322aa68992023-12-01T22:32:38ZengMDPI AGPathogens2076-08172022-07-0111776010.3390/pathogens11070760Screening for <i>Schistosoma</i> spp. and <i>Leishmania</i> spp. DNA in Serum of Ghanaian Patients with Acquired ImmunodeficiencyFranziska Weinreich0Felix Weinreich1Andreas Hahn2Ralf Matthias Hagen3Holger Rohde4Fred Stephen Sarfo5Torsten Feldt6Albert Dompreh7Shadrack Osei Asibey8Richard Boateng9Hagen Frickmann10Kirsten Alexandra Eberhardt11Department of Microbiology and Hospital Hygiene, Bundeswehr Hospital Hamburg, 20359 Hamburg, GermanyDepartment of Microbiology and Hospital Hygiene, Bundeswehr Hospital Hamburg, 20359 Hamburg, GermanyDepartment of Medical Microbiology, Virology and Hygiene, University Medicine Rostock, 18057 Rostock, GermanyDepartment of Microbiology and Hospital Hygiene, Bundeswehr Central Hospital Koblenz, 56070 Koblenz, GermanyInstitute of Medical Microbiology, Virology and Hygiene, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), 20251 Hamburg, GermanyDepartment of Medicine, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi 00233, GhanaDepartment of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infectious Diseases, University Medical Center Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, GermanyDepartment of Clinical Microbiology, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi 00233, GhanaDepartment of Medicine, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi 00233, GhanaDepartment of Clinical Microbiology, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi 00233, GhanaDepartment of Microbiology and Hospital Hygiene, Bundeswehr Hospital Hamburg, 20359 Hamburg, GermanyDepartment of Tropical Medicine, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine & I. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20359 Hamburg, GermanyBoth <i>Schistosoma</i> spp. (species) and <i>Leishmania</i> spp. are prevalent in Ghana in West Africa. However, little is known about their local occurrence in immunocompromised individuals. In the study presented here, the real-time PCR-(polymerase chain reaction-)based screening for repetitive DNA (deoxyribonucleotide acid) sequences from the genomes of <i>Leishmania (L.)</i> spp. and <i>Schistosoma (S.)</i> spp. was performed in the serum of HIV-(human immunodeficiency virus-)infected Ghanaian patients. In 1083 assessed serum samples from HIV-positive and HIV-negative Ghanian patients, <i>Leishmania</i> spp.-specific DNA was not detected, while the diagnostic accuracy-adjusted prevalence estimation suggested a 3.6% prevalence of the <i>S. mansoni</i> complex and a 0.5% prevalence of the <i>S. haematobium</i> complex. Associations of schistosomiasis with younger age, as well as with the male sex, could be shown but not with an HIV status. Weakly significant signals for the associations of schistosomiasis with an increased viral load, reduced CD4+ (CD = cluster of differentiation) T cell count, and a reduced CD4+/CD8+ ratio could be observed but was inconsistently lost in the case of the stratification on the species complex level. So, it is concluded that factors other than HIV status are more likely to have influenced the occurrence of <i>Schistosoma</i> spp. infections in the assessed Ghanaian patients. Potential associations between HIV infection-associated factors, such as the viral load and the immune status of the patients, for which weak signals were observed in this hypothesis-forming retrospective assessment, should be confirmed by prospective, sufficiently powered investigations.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/11/7/760schistosomiasisleishmaniasisHIVGhanaepidemiologymolecular diagnosis |
| spellingShingle | Franziska Weinreich Felix Weinreich Andreas Hahn Ralf Matthias Hagen Holger Rohde Fred Stephen Sarfo Torsten Feldt Albert Dompreh Shadrack Osei Asibey Richard Boateng Hagen Frickmann Kirsten Alexandra Eberhardt Screening for <i>Schistosoma</i> spp. and <i>Leishmania</i> spp. DNA in Serum of Ghanaian Patients with Acquired Immunodeficiency Pathogens schistosomiasis leishmaniasis HIV Ghana epidemiology molecular diagnosis |
| title | Screening for <i>Schistosoma</i> spp. and <i>Leishmania</i> spp. DNA in Serum of Ghanaian Patients with Acquired Immunodeficiency |
| title_full | Screening for <i>Schistosoma</i> spp. and <i>Leishmania</i> spp. DNA in Serum of Ghanaian Patients with Acquired Immunodeficiency |
| title_fullStr | Screening for <i>Schistosoma</i> spp. and <i>Leishmania</i> spp. DNA in Serum of Ghanaian Patients with Acquired Immunodeficiency |
| title_full_unstemmed | Screening for <i>Schistosoma</i> spp. and <i>Leishmania</i> spp. DNA in Serum of Ghanaian Patients with Acquired Immunodeficiency |
| title_short | Screening for <i>Schistosoma</i> spp. and <i>Leishmania</i> spp. DNA in Serum of Ghanaian Patients with Acquired Immunodeficiency |
| title_sort | screening for i schistosoma i spp and i leishmania i spp dna in serum of ghanaian patients with acquired immunodeficiency |
| topic | schistosomiasis leishmaniasis HIV Ghana epidemiology molecular diagnosis |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/11/7/760 |
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