Entamoeba

histolytica
BIOLOGY
 Pseudopod-forming nonflagellaleted

 Trophozoites
 highly motile
 Has pseudopodia
 Multiply by binary fission

 Lacks organelles (resembles mitochondria)

 No RER or Golgi apparatus

 Mode of transmission
 Ingestion from fecally-contaminated material
 Venereal transmission through fecal-oral contact
 Direct colonial inoculation through contaminated enema
equipment
CYSTS
-4 NUCLEI
-CENTRALLY
LOCATED
KARYOSOMES
-FINE,
UNIFORMLY
DISTRIBUTED
PERIPHERAL
CHROMATIN. 
-MEASURE 12 TO
15 µM.
LIFE CYCLE
PATHOGENESIS AND CLINICAL MANIFESTATION
IN HUMANS

 Pathogenic

 infection can lead to amoebic dysentery or

amoebic liver abscess

 Symptoms can include

 fulminating dysentery
 bloody diarrhea
 weight loss
 fatigue
 abdominal pain
 asymptomatic infection ("luminal amebiasis“)

 invasive intestinal amebiasis (dysentery,

colitis, appendicitis, toxic megacolon,
amebomas)

 invasive extraintestinal amebiasis (liver

abscess, peritonitis, pleuropulmonary
abscess, cutaneous and genital amebic
lesions)
DIAGNOSIS OF INFECTION
 Infective stage : Quadrinucleated cyst
(having 4 nuclei)

 Diagnostic stage : trophozoite

 Direct Fecal Smear (DFS) and staining

 Enzyme immunoassay (EIA); Indirect

Hemagglutination (IHA); Antigen detection –
monoclonal antibody andPCR
Iodamoeba
bütschlii
BIOLOGY
 Cysts
 vary from being nearly spherical to ellipsoidal
 measure 5-20 µm
 single nucleus that is not visible in either
unstained or iodine-stained wet mounts
 With permanent stains (such as trichrome), the
nucleus contains a large, usually eccentric
karyosome

 presence of a large compact mass (vacuole)

of glycogen in the cyst stage. 
 Trophozoites
 measure 8 to 20 µm
 single nucleus
 with a large

 usually central karyosome

 surrounded by refractile, achromatic

granules. 
 Cytoplasm
 coarsely granular

 Vacuolated

 can contain bacteria, yeasts or other

materials. 

 Movement in living trophozoites is sluggish and

described as nonprogressive. 
LIFE CYCLE
PATHOGENESIS AND CLINICAL MANIFESTATION
IN HUMANS
 Non-pathogenic

 Causes amebiasis in immunologically

compromised individuals
DIAGNOSIS OF INFECTION
 Infected form: Mature, uninucleated cysts

 identification is made by observing cysts

and/or trophozoites in stool specimens, both
concentrated wet mounts and permanent
stained smears.
Naegleria fowleri
BIOLOGY
 does not form cysts in human tissues

 two forms of trophozoites

 Ameboid(trophozoite form)
 Ameboflagellate (swimming form)  

 Ameboid
 measure 10-35 µm
 but when rounded are usually 10-15 µm in diameter 

 In culture, trophozoites may get over 40 µm

 cytoplasm is granular and contains many vacuoles

 Nucleus
 Single
 large and
 has a large, dense karyosome
 lacks peripheral chromatin
 Flagellate
 small pear-shaped
 with two long whip-like flagellae at one end
 very mobile
 stage that infects people

 Amoeba
 slow moving single-celled organism that
proliferates by dividing repeatedly.
 Returned to water, and occasionally in human
spinal fluid, the amoeba will once again assume
the flagellate form.

 Cyst
 tough spherical stage found only in the
environment, forms when conditions are
unfavorable for naegleria.
LIFE CYCLE
PATHOGENESIS AND CLINICAL MANIFESTATION IN HUMANS

 Acute primary amebic meningoencephalitis

(PAM)
 severe headache
 other meningeal signs
 Fever
 vomiting
 focal neurologic deficits
 progresses rapidly (<10 days) frequently to
coma and death. 
DIAGNOSIS OF INFECTION
 microscopic examination of cerebrospinal
fluid (CSF). 
 Wet mount may detect motile trophozoites,
and a Giemsa-stained smear will show
trophozoites with typical morphology