Background and objectives: Cryptosporidium is a recognized cause of diarrhea, particularly among children, in developing countries. Cryptosporidium diarrheal episode impinges heavily on the quantitative effector mucosal responses of subsets of T cell population, especially within the gut cytokines. The current study aims to estimate the prevalence of cryptosporidiosis in children of age ≤ 5 years old and also compared IL-10 and IFN-γ levels in immunocompetent children responding to gut infection with Cryptosporidium.
Materials and methods: Diarrheal stool specimens from 175 young children (≤ 5 years) were collected. Kinyoun's acid fast staining was performed for identification of Cryptosporidium. ELISA was performed for antigen detection of Cryptosporidium and cytokine (IFN-γ and IL-10) analysis. For comparison a total of 30 stool samples from age and sex matched healthy children were also tested for IFN-ã and IL-10.
Results: Cryptosporidium oocysts were found in 7 (4.0%) out of 175 children whereas 48 (27.4%) children suffering from diarrhea had Cryptosporidium antigen. A marker of a proinflammatory immune response, IFN-γ and the counterregulatory cytokine IL-10 was also exclusively elevated in the patient population (p <001).
Interpretations and conclusion: Cryptosporidium is present in a significant portion of children suffering from diarrhea in our setting. Antigen detection has much higher isolation rate than Kinyoun's acid fast staining. Results suggest that the Th response adapted at controlling cryptosporidial infection may be a dynamic one in which there is a strong early Th-1 response which later shifts to Th-2 response to facilitate parasite removal and to limit the infection.