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Encystation of entamoeba parasites

1997; Wiley; Volume: 19; Issue: 7 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1002/bies.950190714

1521-1878

Dan Eichinger,

Diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis

Abstract Entamoeba histolytica is a protozoan parasite of humans, and the causitive agent of intestinal amebiasis. The disease‐causing stage of the parasite is an osmotically sensitive ameboid form, which differentiates into a thick‐walled cyst for transmission from person to person. The conditions within the human intestine that induce encystment of the amoeba are unknown, but studies using an amoebic parasite of reptiles are now yielding information about the molecules and host:parasite interactions involved in the process. An understanding of the amoeba's obligatory encystment pathway should provide an approach for interrupting the transmission of this parasite, for which there is currently no vaccine.