Entamoeba coli

In an ideal stain, the cytoplasm of cysts and trophozoites is blue-green tinged with purple. Entamoeba coli cyst cytoplasm is often more purple than that of other species. Nuclear chromatin, chromatoid bodies, erythrocytes, and bacteria stain red or purplish red. Other ingested particles such as yeasts often stain green. Parasite eggs and larvae usually stain red. Inflammatory cells and tissue cells stain in a fashion similar to that of protozoa. Color reactions may vary from the above. 

Bacteria are likely precipitants in many other cases including Escherichia coli, Salmonella species, Shigella species, Vibrio cholerae, and Clostridium difficile. The term dysentery has often been used to describe some of these bacterial infections when associated with serious occurrences of bloody diarrhea. Additionally, acute diarrheal conditions can be prompted by parasites-protozoa such as Entamoeba histolytica, Microsporidium, Giardia lamblia, and Cryptosporidium parvum. Most of these infectious agents can be causes of traveler s diarrhea, a common malady alflicting travelers worldwide. It usually occurs during or just after travel subsequent to the ingestion of fecally-contaminated food or water. It has an abrupt onset but usually subsides within 2 to 3 days. 

Worldwide 5-6 million children die each year of diarrheal diseases. Symptoms of GTI are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea (in case of Shigella and Entamoeba often bloody), abdominal pain and fever. Causal associations have been found between Campylobacter jejuni infections and subsequent Guillain-Barrd syndrome and between enterohem-orrhagic Escherichia coli colitis and the hemolytic uremic syndrome. In severe or complicated cases a faeces culture (and in case of high fever also two blood cultures) should be taken prior to therapy. 

T-S Yong, E Li, D Clark, SL Stanley Jr. Complementation of an Escherichia coli adhE mutant by the Entamoeba histolytica EhADH2 gene provides a method for the identification of new antiamebic drugs. Proc Natl Acad Sci (USA) 93 6464-6469, 1996. 

Yang, W., Li, E., Kairong, T. and Stanley, Jr, S. L. (1994) Entamoeba histolytica has an alcohol dehydrogenase homologous to the multifunctional adhE gene product of Escherichia coli. Mol. Biochem. Parasitol. 64 253 260. 

Dobell and Laidlaw (82) studied the action of the Ipecac alkaloids on various ameba Entamoeba dyaenteriae, E. colt, E. gingivalis, Endolimax nana) and showed that it is a hundred times as toxic to E. dyaenteriae than it is to E. coli,... 

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