A Molecular Biologic Study of Enterocytozoon bieneusi in HIV-Infected Patients in Lima, Peru

A cross-sectional study was conducted to examine the genotype distribution of Enterocytozoon bieneusi in HIV-infected patients who visited two government hospitals in Lima, Peru from January 2000 through March 2003. Microsporidia were detected by microscopy in 105 (3.9%) of 2,672 patients. A total of 212 stool samples from 89 microsporidia-positive patients were genotyped by sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the rRNA gene. A 392-bp fragment containing the complete ITS region was amplified and sequenced. Multiple alignments and phylogenetic analysis of these ITS sequences identified 11 distinct genotypes of E. bieneusi (Peru-I to Peru-II), 6 of which were new genotypes not reported before. The remaining 5 genotypes had nucleotide sequences identical to those previously reported in humans, cats, pigs, and wild mammals. All the 11 E. bieneusi-genotypes identified are genetically related, and members of the group have been previously found in humans, domestic animals, and some wild mammals. Thus, there is a high genetic diversity of E. bieneusi in humans in Peru, and zoonotic transmission is possible if humans are in close contact with infected animals.