Horse-Specific Cryptosporidium Genotype in Human with Crohn's Disease and Arthritis.

We identified an unusual subtype of a Cryptosporidium sp. horse genotype as the cause of cryptosporidiosis in a 13-year-old girl in Poland who was undergoing immunosuppressive treatment for juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn's disease. The same subtype was identified in a horse the girl had ridden.

Cryptosporidium baileyi Pulmonary Infection in Immunocompetent Woman with Benign Neoplasm.

Cryptosporidium baileyi, a bird-specific parasite, infects gastrointestinal, pulmonary, and urinary tracts of its host. We report on a C. baileyi infection associated with pulmonary hamartoma in an immunocompetent patient in Poland. Further work is needed to investigate the association between Cryptosporidium infections and tumors.

The First Evidence of Cryptosporidium meleagridis Infection in a Colon Adenocarcinoma From an Immunocompetent Patient.

Objectives: The potential linkage between Cryptosporidium spp. infection and colorectal human cancer was suggested by limited reports showing higher prevalence of C. parvum and C. hominis in patients with colon cancer. Here we conducted research concerning presence of Cryptosporidium spp. in malignant tissue collected from patients with colorectal cancer. Methods: Cancerous colon tissue samples collected from 145 non-HIV infected patients with colorectal cancer were screened for Cryptosporidium spp. by immunofluorescence antibody test and genus-specific nested polymerase chain reaction followed by sequencing. Results: Screened pathogen was found in cancerous tissue originating from immunocompetent man with colon adenocarcinoma. Genotyping revealed presence of Cryptosporidium meleagridis. The presence of Cryptosporidium life cycle stages (oocysts and endogenous stages) in colon carcinoma tissue was confirmed by genus-specific FITC-labeling. Conclusions: Herein, we report on a C. meleagridis infection of a colon adenocarcinoma in an immunocompetent patient. This is the first report of C. meleagridis infection in the human colon and first evidence of active development of this species in cancer tissue.

Respiratory microsporidiosis caused by Enterocytozoon bieneusi in an HIV-negative hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipient.

A 23-year-old, HIV-negative woman who had undergone a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation was admitted to the hospital with respiratory failure and symptoms of bronchiolitis obliterans. A chest computed tomography scan revealed diffuse ground-glass opacification and fibrous plugs. Due to worsening respiratory failure despite treatment, ventilation was provided through a tracheostomy tube. Molecular examination of bronchoalveolar lavage and urine revealed Enterocytozoon bieneusi infection. After treatment with albendazole the patient gradually improved, but the pathogen was not eradicated and reappeared on follow-up examination. E. bieneusi belongs to the most clinically important microsporidial species infecting humans, mostly those who are immunocompromised. This fungus tends to infect enterocytes of the intestine, and there are limited studies concerning its extraintestinal location. This is the first report of a case of disseminated respiratory and urinary E. bieneusi infection in a transplant recipient.

The course of experimental giardiasis in Mongolian gerbil.

Fifteen Mongolian gerbils were inoculated with 10 × 106 viable trophozoites of Giardia intestinalis. Their faeces were examined daily by flotation method and the number of shed cysts was counted. Two animals (male and female) were euthanised at 4- to 5-day intervals (9, 14, 18 days post-infection (DPI)). The remaining nine gerbils were sacrificed and dissected at the end of the experiment (23 DPI). Their small intestinal tissues were processed for examination using histological sectioning and scanning electron microscopy and their complete blood count (CBC) was examined. The highest number of trophozoites at the total was observed in the duodenum in gerbils sacrificed on 14 DPI. Number of shed cysts was positively correlated with number of trophozoites rinsed from the intestine. Infected gerbils had lower body weight gain in comparison with control group and in three male gerbils; diarrhoea occurred during infection. Cyst shedding was negatively correlated with values of mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration. Females showed another pattern in cyst shedding than males. This information needs to be taken into account while planning the experiments.

Effect of Piper betle on Giardia intestinalis infection in vivo.

Piper betle has been used as a medicinal plant in traditional medical systems throughout South and South East Asia. Experimental studies have revealed its wide and diverse biological and pharmacological effects. In this study, antigiardial activity of Piper betle was tested using experimental infections of Giardia intestinalis, the most common cause of protozoal diarrhoea worldwide, in Mongolian gerbils. Plants were extracted in water, methanol and methanol:tetrahydrofuran. Gerbils were treated for ten days intragastrically twice a day, with the dose of 40 mg of the extract per 100 g of body weight. Drug metronidazole was used as a negative control. Gerbils' faeces were taken every day and examined by flotation method, the number of shed cysts were counted using a haemocytometer. After gerbils' sacrifice and dissection, their duodena were then processed for examination using histological sectioning and scanning electron microscopy. The antigiardial activity was evaluated by the course of cyst shedding throughout the entire experiment. A significant decline in cyst shedding, evaluated by linear regression was found in gerbils treated with the aqueous extract. Our results indicate that the aqueous extract of P. betle shows giardicidal effects.

Cryptosporidium proliferans n. sp. (Apicomplexa: Cryptosporidiidae): Molecular and Biological Evidence of Cryptic Species within Gastric Cryptosporidium of Mammals.

The morphological, biological, and molecular characteristics of Cryptosporidium muris strain TS03 are described, and the species name Cryptosporidium proliferans n. sp. is proposed. Cryptosporidium proliferans obtained from a naturally infected East African mole rat (Tachyoryctes splendens) in Kenya was propagated under laboratory conditions in rodents (SCID mice and southern multimammate mice, Mastomys coucha) and used in experiments to examine oocyst morphology and transmission. DNA from the propagated C. proliferans isolate, and C. proliferans DNA isolated from the feces of an African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) in Central African Republic, a donkey (Equus africanus) in Algeria, and a domestic horse (Equus caballus) in the Czech Republic were used for phylogenetic analyses. Oocysts of C. proliferans are morphologically distinguishable from C. parvum and C. muris HZ206, measuring 6.8-8.8 (mean = 7.7 µm) × 4.8-6.2 µm (mean = 5.3) with a length to width ratio of 1.48 (n = 100). Experimental studies using an isolate originated from T. splendens have shown that the course of C. proliferans infection in rodent hosts differs from that of C. muris and C. andersoni. The prepatent period of 18-21 days post infection (DPI) for C. proliferans in southern multimammate mice (Mastomys coucha) was similar to that of C. andersoni and longer than the 6-8 DPI prepatent period for C. muris RN66 and HZ206 in the same host. Histopatologicaly, stomach glands of southern multimammate mice infected with C. proliferans were markedly dilated and filled with necrotic material, mucus, and numerous Cryptosporidium developmental stages. Epithelial cells of infected glands were atrophic, exhibited cuboidal or squamous metaplasia, and significantly proliferated into the lumen of the stomach, forming papillary structures. The epithelial height and stomach weight were six-fold greater than in non-infected controls. Phylogenetic analyses based on small subunit rRNA, Cryptosporidium oocyst wall protein, thrombospondin-related adhesive protein of Cryptosporidium-1, heat shock protein 70, actin, heat shock protein 90 (MS2), MS1, MS3, and M16 gene sequences revealed that C. proliferans is genetically distinct from C. muris and other previously described Cryptosporidium species.

Infectivity, pathogenicity, and genetic characteristics of mammalian gastric Cryptosporidium spp. in domestic ruminants.

Farm ruminants were infected experimentally with four mammalian gastric Cryptosporidium, namely Cryptosporidium andersoni LI03 originated from cattle and three isolates of Cryptosporidium muris from brown rat (isolate RN66), Bactrian camel (isolate CB03) and firstly characterized isolate from East African mole rat (isolate TS03). Sequence characterizations of the small-subunit rRNA gene showed that the LI03 isolate was C. andersoni and the other three isolates belonged to C. muris, although the TS03 isolate showed unique sequence variations (one single nucleotide change and four nucleotide insertions). C. andersoni LI03 was infectious for calves only, whereas lambs and kids were susceptible to C. muris CB03. C. muris TS03 and RN66 were not infectious for any farm ruminants. Infection dynamics including prepatent and patent period and infection intensity of the isolates used differed depending on the host species, but no clinical signs of cryptosporidiosis were observed in any of experimentally infected hosts. Cryptosporidium developmental stages were only detected in infected animals in the abomasum region. Histopathological changes were characterized by dilatation and epithelial metaplasia of infected gastric glands with no significant inflammatory responses in the lamina propria.

Infectivity and pathogenicity of Cryptosporidium andersoni to a novel host, southern multimammate mouse (Mastomys coucha).

The infectivity and pathogenicity of Cryptosporidium andersoni (bovine isolate) for neonatal and adult southern multimammate mice (Mastomys coucha) was studied using transmission experiments. C. andersoni isolate used in this study was not infective for BALB/c mice, but experimental infection proved susceptibility of neonatal and adult M. coucha to the infection. The prepatent period was 20-24 days, the patent period varied between 46 and 59 days. No signs of clinical illness or macroscopic findings were detected in infected animals. Cryptosporidium developmental stages were detected only in the glandular part of the stomach of M. coucha in histological sections stained with Wolbach's modification of Giemsa and using immunofluorecence. Histopathological changes were characterized by dilatation and epithelial metaplasia of infected gastric glands without inflammatory response in the lamina propria. Neonatal M. coucha were more susceptible to C. andersoni infection than adults. M. coucha seems to be a useful laboratory model for study of C. andersoni infection.