Point-of- Care Diagnostics Test for Intestinal Protozoa

隐孢子虫病是一种肠道寄生虫感染，是腹泻的常见原因 国际吧1993年的流行病说明了隐孢子虫在生物恐怖主义中的潜在用途， 当密尔沃基的供水系统被这种生物污染时，发生了超过40万 人们在几周内就患上了腹泻。与那次爆发有关的是 住院和死亡人数。基于这种可能导致大规模流行病的可能性， 隐孢子虫已被列为生物防御的B类代理。根据世界卫生 根据世界卫生组织的统计，疟疾是世界范围内第二大常见的发病和死亡原因 也是成年人发病和死亡的一个重要原因， 寄生虫是持续性和慢性腹泻的更常见的病原体， 慢性病的主要原因。在寄生虫隐孢子虫，贾第鞭毛虫， 溶组织内阿米巴是最常见的腹泻相关。所有这些生物体都能呈现 具有相似的临床表现，通常为水样腹泻，但它们在最佳诊断方面存在差异 方法，更重要的是治疗。该项目的长期目标是开发一个简单的， 廉价的测试，可以检测所有主要的寄生虫引起的原生动物寄生虫，可以在 即使是在发展中国家，具体目标1： 优化可用于即时护理的廉价、灵敏和特异性诊断测试 隐孢子虫病的诊断具体目标2：建立贾第虫、大肠杆菌的检测方法。 histolytica、Cyc/ospora和/sospora。具体目标3：评估以下指标的敏感性和特异性： 这些测定使用在结肠炎疾病的前瞻性研究中获得的粪便样品。到 为了实现这些目标，我们组建了一支跨学科的团队，他们在床旁护理方面拥有成熟的专业知识 检测传染病。白色博士在UTMB的实验室带来了肠道寄生虫，临床 传染病和寄生虫分子生物学，并正在与实地研究合作， 传染病。赖斯大学生物工程系的Richards-Kortum博士实验室， 专注于将微制造和纳米技术应用于全球健康问题， 在微型光学传感器和使用靶向纳米粒子进行分子诊断方面的经验。 该项目的长期目标是将类似的技术结合起来，开发一种简单、廉价的 可以检测出所有主要的导致疟疾的原生动物寄生虫的测试，可以在护理点进行， 即使在发展中国家。

Cryptosporidiosis is an intestinal parasitic infection that is emerging as a common cause of diarrhea worldwide. The potential for use of Cryptosporidium in bioterrorism is illustrated by the 1993 epidemic that occurred when the Milwaukee water supply became contaminated with the organism and over 400,000 people became ill with diarrhea within a period of a few weeks. Associated with that outbreak were large numbers of hospitalizations and deaths. Based on this potential to cause large-scale epidemics, Cryptosporidium has been classified as a Class B agent for biodefense. According to the World Health Organization, diarrheal diseases are the second most common cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide among children in developing countries and also an important cause of morbidity and mortality in adults, Parasites are more common agents of persistent and chronic diarrhea, which are increasingly recognized as major causes of chronic morbidity. Among the parasites Cryptosporidium, Giardia intestinalis, and Entamoeba histolytica are the most commonly associated with diarrhea. All of these organisms can present with a similar clinical picture, typically with watery diarrhea, yet they differ in terms of optimal diagnostic methods and, more importantly, treatment. The long-range goal for the project is to develop a simple, inexpensive test that can detect all the major diarrhea-causing protozoan parasites that can be performed at the point-of-care, even in developing countries. The specific aims of this project are: Specific aim 1: To optimize an inexpensive, sensitive and specific diagnostic test that can be used for point-of-care diagnosis of Cryptosporidiosis. Specific aim 2: To develop detection methods for Giardia, E. histolytica, Cyc/ospora, and /sospora. Specific aim 3: To assess the sensitivity and specificity of these assays using stools samples obtained in prospective studies of diarrheal disease. To accomplish these goals, we have assembled an interdisciplinary team with proven expertise in point-of-care detection of infectious disease. Dr White's laboratory at UTMB brings expertise in intestinal parasites, clinical infectious diseases and parasite molecular biology and has ongoing collaborations with field studies of diarrheal disease. Dr. Richards-Kortum's Laboratory, at the Department of Bioengineering at Rice University, has focused on applying microfabrication and nanotechnologies to global health problems and has experience in both micro-optical sensors and the use of targeted nanoparticles for molecular diagnostics. The long-range goal for the project will be to incorporate similar techniques to develop a simple, inexpensive test that can detect all the major diarrhea-causing protozoan parasites that can be performed at the point-ofcare, even in developing countries.