Pathogenic Protozoa: Intestinal Parasites Flashcards
Protozoa are unicellular ____
Eukaryotes
Do protozoa have cell walls? If not, what do they have?
NO! Cyst forms have a cyst wall
Three types of protozoan locomotion appendages
- Cilia
- Flagella
- Pseudopodia
These are temporary, foot-like projections filled w/ cytoplasm in amoeboids; mediate “crawling” over surfaces
Psuedopodia
These are hairlike projections that typically cover the surface of ciliates; beat in waves that propels a cell
Cilia
These are flexible, whip-like projections localized to specific areas on flagellates; movement propels a cell
Flagella
Motile, feeding, and proliferative form of protozoa
Trophozoite (“troph”)
Most protozoa produce a ____ form in response to adverse environmental stimuli
Cyst
What is the purpose of the cyst form?
Cyst encases the troph w/in a thick shell to protect from harsh conditions
Process of forming a cyst
Encystation (enter)
Process of leaving a cyst
Excystation (exit)
For many pathogenic protozoa, what is the infectious form?
Cysts
In fecal concentrates, ____ are damaged and unrecognizable, ____ remain intact and are observable
Trophs; cysts
Three lab methods for detecting protozoa in stool specimens
- Ag detection assays
- Microscopic examination
- Molecular methods
Which form of protozoa are found more in formed stool? Watery stool?
- Formed: cysts
- Watery: trophs
Why should more than 1 fecal specimen be examined?
B/c of intermittent shedding of parasites in stool
How should stool be collected for detecting protozoa?
Three specimens over the period of 10 days
How long should you wait to preserve fecal specimens?
DON’T WAIT! Preserve immediately!
Disadvantages of Ag detection assays
Only for a limited number of organisms
- Common ones → Giardia, Cryptosporidium, Entamoeba
For microscopic examination of wet mounts of preserved feces, what are usually destroyed and what remains intact?
Trophs are destroyed, cysts remain
An important component of light microscopes used in parasitology labs
Ocular micrometer
When making wet mounts, you should make two different types of mounts on the same slide…what are they?
Saline and iodine mounts
Smears of preserved, concentrated stool are made on a slide. Many modern fixatives permit specimen adherence to the slide. How do you make this slide?
Use an applicator stick (up and down motion) to make thick and thin areas
Dried smears are usually stained w/ what?
Trichrome stain
Stained smears should be first examined on low power and then use the ____ objective
100x oil immersion objective (1000x total magnification)
Three other methods besides trichrome to stain smears?
- Modified acid-fast stain (Cryptosporidium spp and coccida)
- Modified safranin stain (Cyclospora cayetanensis)
- Chromotrope R2/modified trichome (microsporidia)
Setback to molecular methods like the nucleic acid amplification test
Currently only available for detection of a limited number of intestinal protozoa
Enteric amoeba that lyses tissue
Entamoeba histolytica
Entamoeba histolytica
- Intestinal and extra-intestinal diseases
- Amoebic dysentery
- Amoebic colitis
- Amoebic abscesses
Entamoeba histolytica
- Geographic distribution
Worldwide but has a higher incidence of infection in developing countries
Entamoeba histolytica
- What disease does it cause?
Amoebiasis
Entamoeba histolytica
- Who are the hosts?
Humans are the only hosts
Entamoeba histolytica
- Infectious form
Cysts
Entamoeba histolytica
- How are cysts transmitted?
Fecal-oral route
Entamoeba histolytica
- Common settings
?
Entamoeba histolytica
- Test of choice?
EIA - high sensitivity and specificity
Entamoeba histolytica
- Must be distinguished from ____ ____ and other protozoa and also must be distinguished from ____ ____!!!
- Nonpathogenic amoebae
- Polymorphonuclear neutrophils
Entamoeba histolytica
- Size of cysts
12-15µm
Entamoeba histolytica
- Size of trophs
15-20µm
Entamoeba histolytica
- Is morphologically indistinguishable from what two organisms?
- Entamoeba dispar
- Entamoeba moshkovskii
How do you differentiate Entamoeba histolytica from Entamoeba hartmanni?
Exactly the same just much smaller
How do you differentiate Entamoeba histolytica trophs from Entamoeba coli trophs?
- E. histolytica: Karyosome in the center, is compact, peripheral chromatin is smoothly and evenly arranged “clean” cytoplasm
- E. coli: karyosome is off-center (messy looking), spread out, peripheral chromatin is clumpy and unevenly arranged in “dirty” cytoplasm
How do you differentiate Entamoeba histolytica cysts from Entamoeba coli cysts?
- E. histolytica: Nuclei usually paired on each side in 2 different focal planes, chromatic bodies with rounded ends
- E. coli: Nuclei scattered randomly throughout cyst in many different focal planes, chromatoid bodies with splintered ends
Only known pathogenic ciliate of humans
Balantidium coli
Balantidium coli
- Geographic distribution
Worldwide
Balantidium coli
- What disease does it cause?
Balantidiasis
Balantidium coli
- What are the hosts?
- PIGS (infections are more common in areas where pigs are raised)
- Rodents
- Primates
Balantidium coli
- Infectious form
Cyst
Balantidium coli
- Symptoms
- Most cases are asymptomatic
- Persistent diarrhea, dysentery, and abdominal pain
- Weight loss
- Can be severe in debilitated hosts
Balantidium coli
- What do we detect in the stool?
Trophs, not cysts
Balantidium coli
- Appearance of trophs
- CILIATED
- Big cell (40-200µm)
- Bean-shaped macronucleus
- Cytosome at narrower end
What is one of the most common intestinal parasites in the world?
Giardia intestinalis
Giardia intestinalis
- Other names
- G. lamblia
- G. duodenalis
Giardia intestinalis
- What disease does it cause?
Giardiasis
Giardia intestinalis
- Geographic distribution
Worldwide but is more prevalent in warm climates and in children (day care)
Giardia intestinalis
- How is it transmitted?
- Fecal-oral route
- Food
- Person-to-person
- Fomites (inanimate objects)
- Waterborne (most big outbreaks)
Giardia intestinalis
- Who are the hosts?
Humans and animals