Immunologically Confirmed Disseminated, Asymptomatic Encephalitozoon cuniculi Infection of the Gastrointestinal Tract in a Patient with AIDS

Microsporidia are obligate intracellular protozoan parasites that infect a broad range of vertebrates and invertebrates. They are increasingly recognized as human pathogens, especially in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Organisms of the genus Encephalitozoon</it> have been implicated as a major cause of disseminated microsporidian infections in persons with AIDS. Until recently, E. hellem</it> was the only Encephalitozoon</it> species confirmed by antigenic or nucleic acid methods to have infected humans. We describe the clinical course and morphological features of a case of disseminated microsporidian infection with Encephalitozoon cuniculi</it> in an HIV-infected patient with chronic sinusitis, rhinitis, and keratoconjunctivitis. Parasites were found in conjunctival swab, nasal discharge, sputum, urine, stool, and duodenal biopsy specimens, but no pulmonary, renal, or gastrointestinal symptoms were documented. The patient was treated with albendazole (400mg po b.i.d.), resulting in complete remission of his ocular and nasal symptoms, and microsporidian spores disappeared from all sites. To our knowledge, this case is only the second of E. cuniculi</it> infection in humans that has been confirmed by either antibody- or nucleic acid-based methods, and it is the first in which an Encephalitozoon</it> species has been found in the intestinal tract of a human. Microsporidiosis is an important emerging opportunistic infection in HIV-infected patients and, as documented in this report, has an expanding clinicopathologic spectrum.