Students : NICOLAE Silvia Maria

CATESCU Sabina Angelica

COSTEA Iulia Denisa
Groupe 5

(from parasite + logos (Gr.) = science)

PARASITE

(Gr: para = beside, sitos = food)

Parasite is a being of vegetable or animal nature, which

lives on other being of vegetable or animal nature, without
bringing it any benefit, or even causing damage to it.
Parasites of animal nature are zooparasite, and those of
vegetable nature are considered phytoparasites.

THE WAYS FOR THE PARASITES INGRESS IN THE HOSTS

Parasites may invade their hosts as follows:

On passive way, when the parasite gets into the host either as an adult,
or by one of the forms of the evolutional cycle at the same time with air,
water or food,
On active way, when parasites actively cross the outer layer of the host
body,
The final entry of parasites into the host body through the consumption
of intermediary hosts.

Amoebae are unicellular organisms,

with or without membrane, containing
one or more nuclei.
Though they are unicellular, their
bodies are deformable, showing
different forms varying from a species
to another, or within species.
The nucleus is a constant form for
all protozoa, showing variations in
dimension, location, structure and
number, reported to the species.
Nutrition is realized either through
phagocytosis or through endosmosis.
Mobility of protozoa is caused by the
pseudopodia or rods or cillia.
Reproduction occurs on asexual or
sexual way.

Rhizopoda are protozoa having a light deformable body, walking by

means of pseudopodia.
Amoebae show two evolution stages:
Trofozoit when multiplication by binary division occurs under favourable
conditions;
Cyst which is eliminated at the same time with the hosts dejection.

Amoebae can be:

Free amoebae, which do not live as parasites on a host.

They are made up of cytoplasm, nucleus, and a pulsatile
vacuole which is located in endoplasm . The cyst occurs
in the outer environment, under conditions which are not
favourable to life.
Parasite amoebae, of which the most important are
those which miss the pulsatile vacuole.
According to the pathogen character, they may be
classified into:
Pathogen parasite amoebae :E. histolytica.
Free amoebae with pathogen potential (opportunist
amoebae) :Naegleria Fowleri.

Non-pathogen parasite amoebae are non-aggressive.: E.

coli, E. gingivalis.

It was described by doctor LOESCH from Leningrad

(1875). Originally, it was considered non-pathogen,
and it is worldwide-spread, and is often met in
the tropical and subtropical regions, where it has a
prevalence of 50 80%; in Europe, it is frequently
present in the south countries, such as: Greece,
Italy, the former Yugoslavian countries.

In Romania a country having a colder temperate

climate, it is mentioned by LUPASCU and
GHERMAN, appreciating that 1.4 10.6% of the
countrys population would get infected, as it is
more frequently met within the animal raising area,
collectivities of children, psychiatry hospitals,
where the hygienic conditions are scarce.

Entamoeba histolytica from morphological

point of view is found under two forms:
vegetative form and cyst form.
The vegetative form is the active mobile
form, feeds and multiplies, and may present as:
a. Trophozoite a completely developed
vegetative form, which from the perspective
of its behaviour may have two aspects, as
follows:
a .non-aggressive aspect, called the little
minute, of 15 20 microns, which lives in the
large intestine of the individuals, it does not
cause clinic disturbances (the bearers are
healthy) but it maintains the parasitism of the
colon.
An aggressive pathogen aspect, named
forma magna or hystolitic form.

 Forma magna has large sizes of 20 up to 40 microns it

is active, emitting suddenly pseudopodia, and can feed by
erythrocytes, causing disorders expressed clinically by

amoebic dysentery.
It never turns into cysts.

The both forms move actively, but the minute form has
a lower mobility than forma magna, the movement
rhythm depends on the environment temperature and pH.
The direction of movement may suddenly change as a
response to the microclimate conditions.
In

the both forms, they may differentiate in protoplasm: one

part named ectoplasm and another one, named endoplasm.
Ectoplasm has no structure.

The endoplasm of the minute form

contains many vacuoles and different
granules, while in the endoplasm of the
forma magna there are vacuoles and
granules and less erythrocytes in different
stages of destruction.
Endoplasm contains bacteria,
erythrocytes but not mitochondria, for which
reason, it has an anaerobic metabolism.
The nucleus is spherical, owns a nuclear
membrane, which - on its inner surface
has small granules of chromatin, and a
small cariosoma with a central disposition.


The

cyst always forms within the intestinal contents, but not in the
outer environment, representing the propagation form of the
parasite in nature, from a human host to another, and also the form
of resistance of amoeba within the outer environment.
Only
Cysts

the minute form turns into cyst.

are round or a bit oval, of 5 up to 23 microns in size, having

a fine double-contoured membrane. They are four-nucleus and
contain thick siderophile elements, with rounded tips.

Entamoeba hystolica is
located in the colon, and
secondly, it may be interested in
the liver, lung and other
organs.

A parasite specific for humans, at which the

hystolitic form, magna is responsible for the
generation of the disease.

Cysts which reached the outer environment

may be destroyed through dryness, heat and
hypertonic environment.

Once ingested by the host organism, cysts do

not modify in their tract through stomach,
duodenum, and the first portion of the thin
intestine.

Reaching the terminal portion of

the thin intestine, under the influence of the

gastric acid, the cysts wall dissolves, releasing
the metacyst (multi-nucleus amoeba).
Immediately, there starts a process of nuclear
division, and the cytoplasm gets separated, and
surrounds each nucleus, thus forming eight
metacyst trophozoites.

Form minute of the trophozoite is nehematofag (does

not live by feeding with the blood from other organism)
and is non-aggressive, colonizing the so-called healthy
bearers.

Under unfavourable conditions, when the intestinal

function is modified, the intestinal contents becomes
more fluid, and will move more quickly, and will not allow
the cyst formation, for which reason, in the sick persons
dejections trophozoites are to be identified.

The minute form of the trophozoites, under conditions

which determine the breaking of the microbial flora
balance, or pH intestinal modifications, the decrease of
the host body resistance turns into forma magna.

The forma magna trophozoites, through their proteolytic

ferment, dissolve the colons tissues, reaching its wall.
This tissular form is aggressive, haemato- and
hystiofag, which is very mobile, therefore pathogen.

A)Primary intestinal lesion

Occurs in the colons mucous membrane, in the

caecum or in the sigmoid colon, where due to the
less accelerated intestinal transit a more
extended contact of amoeba with the intestinal
mucous membrane is possible.
This way, the incipient amoeba lesion is
realized, producing a larger erosion, of a bag-type.
Further, throughout the evolution, the undermucous membrane necrosis and the shirt-button
type purulence occur, on whose periphery
amoebae go on the destruction process, leading
gradually to the increase of the bags volume.

b) Extra-intestinal amoebiasis
The ulcerations of the intestinal wall also
include vascular lesions which bleed and
constitute, at the same time, the entry gate of
the parasite, in the circulatory torrent,
where they can determine remote metastasis
and purulence having different locations:
cutaneous, in liver, lungs, brains, skin,
urinary bladder etc.
In the liver, the amoebian purulence is
preferably located in the right lobe, usually
being a complication of an asymptomatic
amoebian infection (the patients do not admit a
diarrhoea access in their antecedents.
From liver, amoebae can cross the diaphragm,
reaching the lung, usually locating themselves
in the right lung.

Incubation varies within large limits, from 20 up to

95 days, many times being impossible to mention by
the patient.

The debut of the disease is less brutal than the one

of the bacillary dysentery, characterized through:
dyspeptic disorders, anorexia, asthenia, light
diarrhoea with soft ejections.
The triggering factor can be the fatigue, change
of the food regime or climate, extended antibiotic
treatments.

The dysenteric syndrome is characterized by the

following triad:

Abdominal pains, occurring more frequently at night than

during the day, following the path of the colon of the
hypogastric region up to the anal region.

Tenesmus: particular feelings of painful plenitude of the

rectum, which determine the imperative need to evacuate the
rectal contents. The patient makes considerable but useless
efforts to deject. The closer the lesions the anus, the more
intense the tenesmus.

Numerous mucous diarrhoea and blood-coloured

ejections, occurred in the complete healthy body, apparently
brutally or - on the contrary insidious, worsening within days.

Treatment is necessary to apply both to the sick people

and to the apparent healthy bearers of cysts, who maintain
the parasite spread.
The sick people shall benefit from different treatment
depending on the presence of the clinical signals or /
and complications.
Depending on the level on which they act, medicines are
classified into two categories:
Amoebicide luminals or contact luminals which act
through direct contact with trophozoites in the intestinal
lumen, being active on the minute form, as well.

The source or infection reservoir is

represented by the patient or by the
healthy bearer, who eliminates through
dejections the tetra-nucleus cysts, which
may maintain their infectionness in the
outer environment for several days.

Discovered

by von Prowazek, for a long

time it was considered the dwarf form
of Entamoeba histolytica, due to the
morphological similarities of the two
species.
The cysts of E. hartmanni own
numerous long thin siderophile bodies,
like fine baguettes, while in E. histolytica,
the siderophile bodies are rare, thick with
rounded ends.
E. hartmanni ingests bacteria but not
erythrocytes.
It is considered as non-pathogen by most
authors.

It was described by Gross in 1849 at Petrograd, being

the first of the humane amoeba discovered.

Only its vegetative form of trophozoite is known,

which is variable, and has short bevelled pseudopodia.

It is well-differentiated in cystoplasm, ectoplasm from

endoplasm.

E. gingivalis is mobile, lives in the mouth cavity, in

the caved teeth, in amigdalian cripte.

It multiplies by binary division.

It is killed by the gastric acid and gall.

If it multiplies abundantly, it may be also emphasized in

the lung alveoli.

The infection source is the man who may spread it

by sneeze, cough, kiss, by the use of common objects,
eventually by insufficiently sterilized medical
instruments.

It is little resistant in the external environment.

There is no specific therapy, the treatment of

pathologic conditions of the mouth cavity is the
most efficient way to eliminate the parasite.

Smaller

in size than E. histolytica, it has the ectoplasm less

distinct from endoplasm and less refringent. In endoplasm
erythrocytes never can be found. Pseudopodia are slowly
formed, are short, bevelled and granular. They are a bit
mobile.
The biological cycle is similar with the one met at
Entamoeba histolytica. through contaminated food, cysts
reach the thin intestine of the host, where the multi-nucleus
amoeba dechisteaza and divides into more immature amoeba.
The young amoebae grow, and reach maturity in the caecum.
Then, the cysts formed in the colon reach the dejections and
are eliminated in the outer environment.
The human is the main host for Entamoeba coli.
E. coli does not enter the tissues by its own means, but it can
engage in ulcerations provoked by other causes; it does not
advance into tissues, and it does not maintain for long, either,
and after two-three passes, it does not multiply, and tends to
disappear.
Entamoeba coli lives in the lumen of the human colon,
but there is not certain evidence about its pathogenicity. It is
considered as non-pathogen and only in certain
circumstances it can determine easy dyspeptic disorders.

Thank you for attention!

1.CODRUTA NEMET ,, COURSE OF PARASITOLOGY;

2.DICTIONARY ,, HELLO;
3.www.sfatulmedicului.ro.