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Updated: May 22, 2026

Ex Vivo Infection of Human Lymphoid Tissue and Female Genital Mucosa with Human Immunodeficiency Virus 1 and Histoculture
Published on: October 12, 2018
Genital microsporidiosis in women with AIDS: a post-mortem study
Griselda Torres1, Fernando Izquierdo, Virginia Capó
1Department of Pathology, Institute of Tropical Medicine Pedro Kourí, Havana, Cuba.
Background:
Microsporidiosis is a life threatening opportunistic infection of AIDS patients. The infection is usually restricted to specific anatomical areas, but could become systemic depending on the involved species. Genital microsporidiosis in female patients is rare.
Objective:
To report genital microsporidiosis in female AIDS patients.
Methods:
Tissues samples from the genital tract (ovary, fallopian tubes and uterus) of eight deceased women who died of wasting syndrome associated to AIDS and disseminated microsporidiosis at the Institute of Tropical Medicine Pedro Kourí were collected between 1997 and 2005. Using an indirect immunohistochemistry assay the microsporidia species involved in those cases were identified.
Results:
We report several cases of microsporidial infection of the female genital tract. Six out of eight women with the disseminated form of the disease showed the presence of microsporidia in the genital tract. Encephalitozoon cuniculi and Encephalitozoon hellem were identified in the internal lining epithelium of the fallopian tubes and endometrium.
Conclusions:
Microsporidia species could disseminate to other organs and become systemic in severe immunocompromised cases. To our knowledge this is the greatest number of female genital tract microsporidiosis cases so far reported in humans.
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