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

ABSTRACT. 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‐1 to Peru‐11), 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 zoonotie transmission is possible if humans are in close contact with infected animals.