We used the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to study the distribution of Entamoeba histolytica and E. dispar in 1,872 individuals in 14 communities in the northern Philippines. Here we report a field study using a DNA extraction protocol from formalin-fixed stool specimens as previously reported. This assay detected 137 stools (7.318%) containing E. dispar and 18 stools (0.961%) containing E. h...

It has been more than eight years since the discovery of mitosomes (mitochondrial remnant organelles) in the intestinal human pathogen Entamoeba histolytica. Despite detailed knowledge about the biochemistry of this parasite and the completion of the E. histolytica genome sequencing project no physiological function has yet been unequivocally assigned to these organelles. Entamoeba mitosomes se...

Peroxiredoxins are an important class of antioxidant enzymes found from Archaea to humans, which reduce and thereby detoxify peroxides and peroxynitrites. The major thiol-containing surface antigen of the invasive ameba, Entamoeba histolytica, is a peroxiredoxin and is likely to be important during the transition from the anaerobic environment of the large intestine to human tissues. The closel...

Entamoeba histolytica is the protozoan agent responsible for human amoebiasis. Trophozoites are highly phagocytic cells and the lysobisphosphatidic acid (LBPA) is involved in endocytosis. LBPA interacts with EhADH protein (an ALIX family member) also participating in phagocytosis, as it is referred in the research article Identification of the phospholipid lysobisphosphatidic acid in the protoz...

BACKGROUND Differentiation between Entamoeba histolytica and Entamoeba dispar is very important for both clinical therapy and epidemiological studies. Although these two species are morphologically identical, they have differences in genetic, chemical specifications and pathogenicity. This study was carried out to differentiate E. histolytica from E. dispar and also to find out frequency of the...

The present study was conducted to compare two stool antigen detection kits with PCR for the diagnosis of Entamoeba histolytica infections by using fecal specimens submitted to the Department of Microbiology at St. Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, and the Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science, Adelaide, Australia. A total of 279 stool samples containing the E complex (E. histolytica, Entamoeba...

Entamoeba invadens is not the secondarily reduced and simplified eukaryote unrelated to a cenancestor as thought by some protist researchers. On the contrary, E. invadens is a single-celled eukaryote with a complex life cycle comprised of stem cells and stem cell lines. It contains hypoxic and oxygenic life cycle stages revealing to us details about the living conditions of LECA at the time of ...

BACKGROUND Epidemiological studies carried out using culture or microscopy in most of the amoebiasis endemic developing countries, yielded confusing results since none of these could differentiate the pathogenic Entamoeba histolytica from the non-pathogenic Entamoeba dispar and Entamoeba moshkovskii. The Northeastern part of India is a hot spot of infection since the climatic conditions are mos...

A closed-tube, real-time PCR assay was developed for sensitive and specific detection and differentiation of the two closely related intestinal protozoan parasites Entamoeba histolytica and Entamoeba dispar directly from human feces. The assay is performed with the LightCycler system using fluorescence-labeled detection probes and primers amplifying a 310-bp fragment from the high-copy-number, ...

BACKGROUND This study aimed to determine the frequency of Entamoeba histolytica and Entamoeba dispar infection in school children in the community of Tlaltizapan, in order to understand the dynamics of infection within the school and family spheres of this population. Amoebiasis is an unsolved public health problem and an endemic disease in Mexico. The incidence rate varies depending on the sta...