Seroprevalence of Strongyloides stercoralis Infection in Patients with Hyperlipidemia: A Case-Control Study

Strongyloides stercoralis is one of the soil-transmitted helminths (STH) in tropical and subtropical regions. The role of lipid profile has been investigated in the survival of larval stages of helminths, but there is limited information about the role of lipid profiles and strongyloidiasis. Hence, we aimed to investigate the seroprevalence of S. stercoralis infection in patients with hyperlipidemia is compared with the nonhyperlipidemia.

In 2023, participants were selected from the laboratory of Porsina Hospital in Guilan Province, northern Iran and their lipid profiles including TG, CHOL, LDL, HDL, and VLDL were measured. They were divided into two groups of case and control and matched based on sex and age. S. stercoralis Ab (IgG) was measured by ELISA methods, using the NovaTec kit. Finally, statistical analysis was performed.

Each case and control group consisted of 105 participants, from 13 to 80 years old. 56.66% were female and 43.33% were male. The seroprevalence of S. stercoralis was found 4.76% in the case group compared to 0.95% in the control group. We found an association between TG fall and VLDL with seroprevalence of S. stercoralis in hyperlipidemia group (P= 0.034), but other lipid profiles did not show a significant association. A significant relationship was found between contact with dogs and seroprevalence of S. stercoralis (P=0.001).

The seroprevalence of S. stercoralis in the case group was 5 times higher than the control group. A significant association between TG and VLDL fall with S. stercoralis Ab (IgG) was observed, but future studies with more sample sizes are suggested to investigate the anti-atherogenic effect of S. stercoralis. Also, a genetic assessment of S. stercoralis and the host (humane and dogs) is recommended to research zoonotic potential in epidemic areas.