Blastocystis is a common unicellular intestinal protozoa in humans and animals, and the most common clinical manifestations of infections include abdominal pain and diarrhea. Based on the sequence of the small-subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene, 28 subtypes of B. hominis (ST1 to ST17, ST21 and ST23 to ST32) have been characterized. Previous studies have demonstrated that B. hominis infection is strongly associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and other intestinal diseases, which threatens the health and quality of life among patients with B. hominis infection and is considered as an important public health problem. This review summarizes the progress of researches on B. hominis infection among IBD and IBS patients during the past 20 years, so as to provide insights into management of blastocystosis in China.
Animals ; Humans ; Irritable Bowel Syndrome/parasitology* ; Blastocystis Infections/complications* ; Quality of Life ; Blastocystis hominis/genetics* ; Feces/parasitology* ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases/parasitology*