We have previously shown that vaccination with purified Entamoeba histolytica Gal/GalNAc lectin or recombinant subunits can protect mice from intestinal amebiasis upon intracecal challenge. In this study, we demonstrated with adoptive-transfer experiments that this lectin vaccine protection is mediated by T cells but not serum. The cell-mediated immune (CMI) response was characterized by signif...

The protozoan parasite Entamoeba histolytica causes amebic dysentery and amebic liver abscess, diseases associated with significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. E. histolytica infection appears to involve the initial attachment of amebic trophozoites to intestinal epithelial cells, followed by lysis of these cells and subsequent invasion into the submucosa. A recent in vitro study (L. Eck...

BACKGROUND Anti-Entamoeba histolytica antibody (anti- E. histolytica) is widely used in seroprevalence studies though its clinical significance has not been assessed previously. METHODS Anti-E. histolytica titer was measured at first visit to our clinic (baseline) in 1303 patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). The time to diagnosis of invasive amebiasis was assess...

Amebiasis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the tropical world. Entamoeba histolytica is now recognized as a separate species from the morphologically identical E. dispar, which cannot invade. Cysteine proteinases are a key virulence factor of E. histolytica and play a role in intestinal invasion by degrading the extracellular matrix and circumventing the host immune respon...

We read with great interest the article published by Gunther and others that describes the amebiasis-related mortality among United States residents from 1990 to 2007. Of 134 amebiasis deaths during the study period, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection was a co-existing condition in 14 (10.4%), which was statistically significantly more common than in the control, non-amebiasis group w...

Entamoeba histolytica is a protozoan parasite and the causative agent of amebiasis. It is estimated approximately 1% of humans are infected with E. histolytica, resulting in an estimate of 100,000 deaths annually. Clinical manifestations of amebic infection range widely from asymptomatic to severe symptoms, including dysentery and extra-intestinal abscesses. Like other infectious diseases, it i...

the genus entamoeba contains many species, six of which (entamoeba histolytica, entamoeba dispar, entamoeba moshkovskii, entamoeba polecki, entamoeba coli, and entamoeba hartmanni) reside in the human intestinal lumen. entamoeba histolytica is the causative agent of amebiasis in humans with a worldwide distribution. correct detection of e.histolytica is frequently a major concern in diagnostic ...

To gain insight into the dynamics of intestinal Entamoeba histolytica infection, a longitudinal study was performed over an observation period of 15 months with a group of 383 randomly selected adult individuals (mean age, 38.5 years) living in an area of amebiasis endemicity in central Vietnam. Ameba infection was diagnosed by using species-specific PCR and DNA extracted directly from fecal sa...

In spite of a wealth of knowledge on the biochemistry and cellular and molecular biology of Entamoeba histolytica, little has been done to apply these advances to our understanding of the lesions observed in patients with intestinal amebiasis. In this review, the pathological and histological findings in acute amebic colitis are related to the molecular mechanisms of E. histolytica pathogenicit...