We performed a systematic literature review and meta-analysis examining the association between diarrhea in young children in nonindustrialized settings and Giardia lamblia infection. Eligible were case/control and longitudinal studies that defined the outcome as acute or persistent (>14 days) diarrhea, adjusted for confounders and lasting for at least 1 year. Data on G. lamblia detection (main...

Giardia lamblia, a parasitic protozoan responsible for diarrhea and malabsorption in humans, grows axenically only in media that contain serum and a high concentration of L-cysteine. During our attempts to grow Giardia in the absence of serum, we found that: (a) human insulin-like growth factors (especially IGF-II), but not insulin, promote the growth and L-cysteine uptake by G. lamblia trophoz...

Giardia lamblia is the most prevalent human intestinal protozoan worldwide, but only a minority of infections result in diarrhea. We tested here whether the 2 major G. lamblia genotypes, assemblages A and B, differ in their propensity to cause disease. To determine whether an association exists between infection with assemblage A or B and diarrhea, 2534 Bangladeshi patients were enrolled in a c...

Filth flies associated with a cattle barn and a municipal landfill were tested positive by combined immunofluorescent antibody and fluorescent in situ hybridization for Cryptosporidium parvum and Giardia lamblia on their exoskeletons and in their guts. More pathogens were carried by flies from the cattle barn than from the landfill; 81% of C. parvum and 84% of G. lamblia pathogens were presumpt...

OBJECTIVES To detect anti-Giardia lamblia serum antibodies in healthy children attending public day care centers and to assess serological tests as tools for estimating the prevalence of G. lamblia in endemic areas. METHODS Three separate stool specimens and filter paper blood samples were collected from 147 children ranging from 0 to 6 years old. Each stool sample was processed using spontan...

BACKGROUND Clinical and epidemiological studies have suggested the development of acquired immunity in individuals previously infected with Giardia lamblia. However, there are no data on the long-term cellular immunity and genotype cross-reactivity. An outbreak of assemblage B giardiasis in a nonendemic area made it possible to evaluate the long-term cellular mediated immunity and its specifici...

Giardia lamblia is a common cause of diarrhea in humans and other mammals throughout the world. It can be distinguished from other Giardia species by light or electron microscopy. The two major genotypes of G. lamblia that infect humans are so different genetically and biologically that they may warrant separate species or subspecies designations. Trophozoites have nuclei and a well-developed c...

Real-time PCR, using dual-labeled fluorescent probes targeting the beta-giardin gene, was used to detect Giardia lamblia in human stool specimens and to discriminate between isolates from the two major genetic assemblages of G. lamblia infective to humans, assemblages A and B.

We developed a series of plasmids that allow C-terminal tagging of any gene in its endogenous locus in Giardia intestinalis, with different epitope tags (triple hemagglutinin [3HA] and triple Myc [3Myc]) and selection markers (puromycin, neomycin, and a newly developed marker, blasticidin). Using these vectors, cyclin B and aurora kinase were tagged, expressed, and localized.

We report, in this paper, several findings about the swimming and attachment mechanisms of Giardia lamblia trophozoites. These data were collected using a combination of a high-contrast CytoViva imaging system and a particle image velocimetry camera, which can capture images at speeds greater than 800 frames/s. Using this system, we discovered that, during rapid swimming of Giardia trophozoites...