title: Is there an association between positive Strongyloides stercoralis serology and diabetes mellitus?
abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of association between positive Strongyloides stercoralis serology and diabetes mellitus. A total of 78 diabetic patients and 42 controls were evaluated. For a parasitological diagnosis, Baermann and Hoffman et al.'s methods were applied. The immunological diagnosis involved the indirect fluorescence antibody test, ELISA and Western blotting to detect IgG antibodies. The frequency of positive S. stercoralis serology in diabetics was 23% versus 7.1% in the control group (P<0.05). The odds ratio for diabetics was 3.9 (CI, 1.6-15.9, P<0.05). Diabetic patients with HbA(1c)< or =7 had a greater chance of testing negatively for S. stercoralis infection (OR: 1.5, P>0.05). Provided there are related cases of disseminated strongyloidiasis in diabetics and there is a higher frequency of asymptomaticity of the infection in this group, the immunological screening of these patients at risk could prevent severe and fatal outcomes of the disease.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Imunologia, Microbiologia e Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Av. Pará 1720, 38400-902 Uberlândia, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Suzan C L
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Mendonça
authors.forename: Maria do Rosário F
authors.initials: Mdo R
authors.lastname: Gonçalves-Pires
authors.forename: Rosângela M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.forename: Alvaro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: Julia M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Costa-Cruz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D000909:Antibodies, Helminth / Q000097:blood; D015153:Blotting, Western; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000097:blood / Q000469:parasitology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D004804:Eosinophils / Q000166:cytology; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017171:Strongyloides stercoralis / Q000254:growth & development*; D013322:Strongyloidiasis / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000469:parasitology
chemical_list: D000909:Antibodies, Helminth; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin