Friedberg DN, Orenstein JM, Didier ES, Stenson SM, Shadduck JA; International Conference on AIDS.
Int Conf AIDS. 1990 Jun 20-23; 6: 365 (abstract no. 2047).
NYU Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
OBJECTIVE: To determine the cause of a recalcitrant, bilateral, superficial epithelial keratoconjunctivitis in 3 patients with AIDS. METHODS: Conjunctival scrapings were examined by light (LM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in 2 patients. Results were confirmed by conjunctival biopsy in one patient. Organisms were grown in tissue culture in Maiden Darby canine kidney cells. Serum was analyzed by Western blot assay using murine Encephalitozoon cuniculi as antigen. One patient was diagnosed clinically. RESULTS: Gram, acid-fast, and Giemsa-positive bodies, which were also birefringent, were seen by LM in smears and paraffin sections. Organisms in scrapings, biopsy and tissue culture were identified by TEM as Microspora, morphologically similar or identical to E. cuniculi. They develop within parasitiphorous vacuoles, have spores with thick endospores, polar tubules with up to 7 turns, and measure up to 1.1x2.5um. Western blot analysis of one patient's serum showed 2 or 3 bands of cross reactivity using murine E. cuniculi as antigen. CONCLUSIONS: An Encephalitozoon, most resembling E. cuniculi was identified pathologically and in tissue culture as the cause of a new clinical entity in AIDS patients. The source of this superficial microsporidial keratoconjunctivitis is unclear, but all 3 patients had exposure to household pets, a common reservoir for E. cuniculi.
Publication Types:
Keywords:
- Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
- Biopsy
- Blotting, Western
- Conjunctiva
- Encephalitozoon
- Encephalitozoon cuniculi
- Humans
- Keratoconjunctivitis
- organization & administration
Other ID:
UI: 102197054
From Meeting Abstracts