emerging intestinal microsporidia infection in hiv(+)/aids patients in iran: microscopic and molecular detection.

background: species of microsporidia have been known as opportunistic obli-gate intracellular parasites particularly in immunocompromised patients. enterocyto-zoon bieneusi is one of most prevalent intestinal microsporida parasites in hiv + /aids patients. in this study, intestinal microsporidia infection was deter-mined in hiv + /aids patients using microscopic and molecular methods. methods: stool samples were collected from hiv + /aids patients during 12 months. all of the stool specimens washed with pbs (ph: 7.5). slim slides were prepared from each sample and were examined using light microscope with 1000x magnification. dna extraction carried out in microscopic positive samples. dna amplification and genus/species identification also performed by nested-pcr and sequencing techniques. results: from 81 stool samples, 25 were infected with microsporidia species and e. bieneusi were identified in all of positive samples. no encephalitozoon spp . was identified in 81 collected samples using specific primers. conclusion: e. bieneusi is the most prevalent intestinal microsporidia in immuno-compromised patients of iran. on the other hand, nested-pcr using specific pri-mers for ssu rrna gene is an appropriate molecular method for identification of e. bieneusi .