Lecture 2-Plasmodium

Question 1

Phylum of Plasmodium?

Answer 1

Apicomplexa

Question 2

What is apical complex?

Answer 2

Structure it uses to get inside cells

Question 3

Intra or extracellular?

Answer 3

Intracellular

Question 4

Example of disease it causes

Answer 4

malaria

Question 5

Direct or indirect lifestyle?

Answer 5

indirect

Question 6

How many hosts does it need?

Answer 6

2

Question 7

species causing most malaria cases in humans

Answer 7

P. vivax and P. falciparum

Question 8

all species that can cause malaria to humans

Answer 8

P. vivax, P. falciparum, P. ovale, and P. malariae

Question 9

Can it infect cold-blooded animals?

Answer 9

Yes-reptiles

Question 10

Where is malaria usu. distributed?

Answer 10

Southern Hemisphere (S. America, Africa, SE Asia)

Question 11

Factors affecting distribution (x4)

Answer 11

• high host specificity
• climate
• standing water
• human behaviour

Question 12

What mosquito does human Plasmodium need as a vector?

Answer 12

Anopheles mosquito

Question 13

What factor can explain malaria’s distribution over S. hemisphere?

Answer 13

Anopheles mosquitoes need warm and humid environments

Question 14

What are serious complications to malaria CONTROL worldwide?

Answer 14

• insecticide resistance by mosquitoes

- drug resistance by parasite

Question 15

Parasitophorous vacuole

Answer 15

formed by parasite during schizogony

Question 16

Where does schizogony occur in its life cycle?

Answer 16

hepatocytes, RBC, and gut lining of mosquitoes

Question 17

How long is P. falciparum’s exoerythrocitic life cycle?

Answer 17

6 days

Question 18

How long is P. falciparum’s erythrocytic life cycle?

Answer 18

48 hours

Question 19

How long is P. vivax’s exoerythrocytic life cycle?

Answer 19

8 days

Question 20

How long is P. vivax’s erythrocytic life cycle?

Answer 20

48 hours

Question 21

What 2 factors contribute to P. falciparum’s success at being the most infective out of the other 3?

Answer 21

• short exoerythrocytic life cycle

- high parasitemia

Question 22

Parasitemia

Answer 22

number of parasites per unit tissue of infected host

Question 23

Components of the apical complex

Answer 23

• polar rings
• microneme
• rhoptry

Question 24

Function of microneme

Answer 24

needed for parasite to articulate itself inside cell

Question 25

Function of fuzzy coat

Answer 25

rich in carbohydrates

Question 26

Function of dense granules

Answer 26

released to make parasitophorous granules

Question 27

What does Plasmodium use for nutrients in RBC?

Answer 27

hemoglobin

Question 28

What is the enzyme used to break down hemoglobin into large fragments?

Answer 28

aspartic alpha chain hemoglobinase

Question 29

Pathology and disease in vertebrate host

Answer 29

• Destruction of RBC
• Blood vessel blockage
• Inflammation
• Resolution of malarial infection
• Mortality

Question 30

Factors promoting resistance by vertebrate host

Answer 30

• Host genetics
• Nonspecific immunity
• specific immunity
• intracellular location
• immunosuppression of host
• host malnutrition
• antigenic variation and polymorphism
• polyclonal activation and circulating antigens
• recrudescence
• relapse

Question 31

What genetic factors decrease susceptibility to Malaria?

Answer 31

• sickle cell trait
• has no Duffy Ag
• maybe being type O

Question 32

Recrudescence vs. relapse

Answer 32

recrudescence is the subclinical persistence in blood which means host can still pass it on while relapse mean that hypnozoites are quiescent in the liver and can activate later on to full blown infection when conditions are good

Question 33

Mechanisms of action drugs used to treat malaria infections

Answer 33

• inhibits protein synthesis
• alters pH in parasite
• inhibits enzymes
• disrupts DNA and nucleic acid synthesis