Entamoeba histolytica is a tiny pathogen that takes a terrible toll. The single-celled parasite—an amoeba about a tenth the size of a dust mite—infects 50 million people worldwide and kills as many as 100,000 each year. Now, a new report reveals how the microbe does its deadly damage: by eating cells alive, piece by piece. The finding offers a potential target for new drugs to treat E. histolytica infections, and it transforms researchers' understanding of how the parasite works.
"This process of nibbling of cells went unrecognized by everyone in this field, including me, for over a hundred years," says infectious disease specialist William Petri of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, a co-author of the report who has studied E. histolytica for more than 2 decades.hyyyyyyy
Although scientists have studied E. histolytica for more than a century, much about the parasite remains a mystery. Part of the problem is that it behaves unpredictably. Many of those infected show no symptoms at all—the amoeba lives quietly in their gut, feeding on bacteria without causing trouble. But in others, the parasite attacks the gut itself and can cause potentially fatal diarrhea, intestinal ulcers, and liver abscesses.
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Entamoeba histolytica is a tiny pathogen that takes a terrible toll. The single-celled parasite—an amoeba about a tenth the size of a dust mite—infects 50 million people worldwide and kills as many as 100,000 each year. Now, a new report reveals how the microbe does its deadly damage: by eating cells alive, piece by piece. The finding offers a potential target for new drugs to treat E. histolytica infections, and it transforms researchers' understanding of how the parasite works.
"This process of nibbling of cells went unrecognized by everyone in this field, including me, for over a hundred years," says infectious disease specialist William Petri of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, a co-author of the report who has studied E. histolytica for more than 2 decades.hyyyyyyy
Although scientists have studied E. histolytica for more than a century, much about the parasite remains a mystery. Part of the problem is that it behaves unpredictably. Many of those infected show no symptoms at all—the amoeba lives quietly in their gut, feeding on bacteria without causing trouble. But in others, the parasite attacks the gut itself and can cause potentially fatal diarrhea, intestinal ulcers, and liver abscesses.
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• Transmission of amebiasis is solely mediated by cysts, and thus blocking encystation halts the spread of this infectious disease.