Disease severity in patients with visceral leishmaniasis is not altered by co-infection with intestinal parasites

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a neglected tropical disease that affects the poorest communities and can cause substantial morbidity and mortality. Visceral leishmaniasis is characterized by the presence of Leishmania parasites in the spleen, liver and bone marrow, hepatosplenomegaly, pancytopenia, prolonged fever, systemic inflammation and low body mass index (BMI). The factors impacting on the severity of VL are poorly characterized. Here we performed a cross-sectional study to assess whether co-infection of VL patients with intestinal parasites influences disease severity, assessed with clinical and haematological data, inflammation, cytokine profiles and BMI. Data from VL patients was similar to VL patients co-infected with intestinal parasites, suggesting that co-infection of VL patients with intestinal parasites does not alter disease severity.

内脏利什曼病（Visceral leishmaniasis, VL）是一类波及最贫困社区的被忽视热带病，可引发严重的发病与死亡。该病以脾脏、肝脏与骨髓中检出利什曼原虫，伴随肝脾肿大、全血细胞减少、长期发热、全身炎症以及低体重指数（BMI）为核心临床特征。目前学界对影响VL病情严重程度的相关因素尚缺乏充分阐释。本研究开展横断面研究，以临床血液学数据、炎症状态、细胞因子谱以及BMI作为疾病严重程度的评估指标，探究VL患者合并肠道寄生虫感染是否会对病情严重程度产生影响。研究结果显示，单纯VL患者与合并肠道寄生虫感染的VL患者的相关观测数据无显著差异，提示VL患者合并肠道寄生虫感染并不会改变疾病严重程度。