Razi Journal of Medical Sciences

    Diabetes mellitus is one of the predisposition disease which can lead to opportunistic infection like pathogens parasites. The prevalence of the diabetic patients infected with intestinal parasite in our country is almost undetected and the efficacy of the treatment or preventive methods are obscure. Therefore, this study was undertaken to elucidate the susceptibility and prevalence of diabetic patients infected with intestinal parasites in two cities of Karaj and Savodjbolagh in Tehran province, and also compare the infection level with non-diabetic healthy control group. In this descriptive and comparative study, 500 stool samples [250 (92 men and 158 women) from control and 250 (91 men and 159 women) from diabetic patients] were collected by conventional laboratory methods from June 2001 to 2002. Formalin-ether concentration technique was used for detection of general intestinal ova and parasites and modified acid-fast staining methods were employed for finding the oocysts of cryptosporidium and other intestinal coccidia. The results of this study indicated that intestinal parasites rate in diabetic patients is higher (39: 15.6%) than healthy control group (25: 10%). In the patient group at least one of the following intestinal parasites was observed: Giardia lamblia (9: 3.6%), Entamoeba coli (9: 3.6%), Cryptosporidium (6: 2.45%), Blastocystis hominis(6: 2.4%), Iodamoeba butschlii (2: 0.8%), Ascaris lumbricoides (2: 0.8%), Hymenolepis nana (2: 0.8%), 4 nucleited cyst (1: 0.4%), Endolimax nana (1: 0.4%) and Trichomonas hominis (1: 0.4%).