Advancing Cryptosporidium Diagnostics from Bench to Bedside

Abstract

Cryptosporidium is increasingly being recognized as an important cause of diarrhea worldwide. Although well known for its impact among HIV positive population, improved diagnostic tests have contributed to its emerging recognition one among the most prevalent causes of early childhood moderate to severe diarrhea, persistent diarrhea, and impaired neurocognitive development. The diagnosis of Cryptosporidiosis is generally carried out based on availability of skilled microscopist or advanced equipment for molecularand immunologic-based assays. As an emerging enteric pathogen of medical importance, the need for point-of-care technology is deemed necessary for early identification of the pathogen and application of infection control measures for its potential risk of creating outbreaks. Current point-of-care technologies demonstrate varying sensitivities and specificities and may already address the present diagnostic need.

Some Applications of Nanobiotechnology in Parasitology

“…For these immunoassays, different colored QDs, which act as immunoassay labels, are conjugated to organism-specific antibodies subsequently detected. QDs in immunofluorescent labeling of C. parvum oocysts present more consistent and important results in water samples (2).…”

“…In this regard, nanobiotechnology by integrating semiconductor nanocrystals or quantum dots (QDs) presents a solution. In comparison with typical organic molecules more readily decomposed, the minuscule probes in nanobiotechnology can withstand a considerably larger number of excitation cycles and light emission (2). In different bioimaging applications and in vitro diagnostics, QDs have been recently applied owing to their large stoke shifts, high photostability, and tunable narrow-emission spectral features.…”

“…These fluorescent properties of QDs allow their application as a robust fluorophore to label microorganisms, including intracellular organelles, red blood cells (RBCs), genes, and proteins. QDs can be also used as a probe for anti-malarial drug screening (2).…”

Development and Preliminary Evaluation of a Nanoparticle-Assisted PCR Assay for the Detection of Cryptosporidium parvum in Calves

“…Limitations of microscopic and immunological techniques resulted in the involvement of nucleic acid-based detection methods (e.g., PCR, nested PCR, qPCR, ddPCR, and LAMP) for the detection of C. parvum [ 29 , 30 , 31 ]. Compared to microscopic examination and immunological assays, the molecular techniques were found to be more sensitive and specific [ 32 ].…”

Toward waterborne protozoa detection using sensing technologies

“…Accordingly, the detection of G. lamblia, Cryptosporidium spp. and E. histolytica is mainly based on the optical detection of cysts/oocysts and trophozoites of parasites using microscopy (Destura et al, 2015;Ricciardi and Ndao, 2015;Hooshyar et al, 2019), while the most common diagnostic method for T. gondii is immunoassay techniques (Elgun and Koltas, 2011;Rostami et al, 2018).…”