Assessment of faecal calprotectin level in paediatric and geriatric patients with cryptosporidiosis

Abstract EN

Cryptosporidium parasite is one of the major causes of diarrhoea.

several parasites and host factors, including the Cryptosporidium genotype and the host immune status and age can influence the disease severity.

in the present work the faecal calprotectin (FCAL) level was assessed in Cryptosporidium infected patients, as a marker of intestinal inflammation in the paediatric and geriatric age groups, with correlation to Cryptosporidium genotype.

our results revealed that the prevalence of Cryptosporidiosis in the geriatric patients was significantly higher than in the pediatric group.

genotyping revealed Cryptosporidium hominis as the frequently circulating species.

significantly high FCAL levels weredetected in cryptosporidium positive patients denoting the ongoing inflammatory process in Cryptosporidiosis.

additionally, FCAL levels were significantly greater in Cryptosporidium hominis compared to Cryptosporidium parvum infection, while unaffected by age group.

further studies are needed to investigate the impact of Cryptosporidiosis in the elderly patients and to evaluate FCAL as a predictive marker of the disease outcome.