Susceptibility of an emetine-resistant mutant of Entamoeba histolytica to multiple drugs and to channel blockers.
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Previously a cloned emetine-resistant mutant of the protozoal parasite Entamoeba histolytica was shown to overexpress a gene for an ameba homolog of the mammalian P-glycoprotein, a plasma membrane pump that removes hydrophobic drugs from multidrug-resistant tumor cells. Three sets of experiments were performed to better characterize the multidrug-resistant phenotype of the emetine-resistant amebae. First, the emetine resistance of the mutant amebae was reversed by concentrations of calcium and sodium channel blockers effective in reversing drug resistance by multidrug-resistant tumor cells, but it was reversed only in the presence of very high concentrations of the tricyclic antidepressants. Second, the mutant amebae showed cross-resistance to antiamebic drugs used to treat luminal infection (iodoquinol and diloxanide) but were not cross-resistant to drugs used to treat invasive disease (chloroquine and metronidazole). Third, when amebae were loaded with radiolabeled emetine, the mutant parasites released the drug at approximately 1.6 times the rate of the wild-type organisms. We conclude that the emetine-resistant E. histolytica parasites have some but not all the features of the multidrug-resistant phenotype. (+info)
Efficacy of saccharomyces boulardii with antibiotics in acute amoebiasis.
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AIM: To compare the efficacy of antibiotics therapy alone with antibiotics and saccharomyces boulardii in treatment of acute amebiasis. METHODS: In a double blind, random clinical trial on patients with acute intestinal amoebiasis, 57 adult patients with acute amoebiasis, diagnosed with clinical manifestations (acute mucous bloody diarrhea) and amebic trophozoites engulfing RBCs found in stool were enrolled in the study. Regimen 1 included metronidazole (750 mg Tid) and iodoquinol (630 mg Tid) for 10 days. Regimen 2 contained capsules of lyophilized saccharomyces boulardii (250 mg Tid) orally in addition to regimen 1. Patients were re-examined at two and four weeks after the treatment, and stool examination was performed at the end of week 4. Student's t-test, chi(2) and McNemar's tests were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Three patients refused to participate. The other 54 patients were randomized to receive either regimen 1 or regimen 2 (Groups 1 and 2 respectively, each with 27 patients). The two groups were similar regarding their age, sex and clinical manifestations. In Group 1, diarrhea lasted 48.0+/-18.5 hours and in Group 2, 12.0+/-3.7 hours (P<0.0001). In Group 1, the durations of fever and abdominal pain were 24.0+/-8.8 and 24.0+/-7.3 hours and in Group 2 they were 12.0+/-5.3 and 12.0+/-3.2 hours, respectively (P<0.001). Duration of headache was similar in both groups. At week 4, amebic cysts were detected in 5 cases (18.5 %) of Group 1 but in none of the Group 2 (P<0.02). CONCLUSION: Adding saccharomyces boulardii to antibiotics in the treatment of acute amebiasis seems to decrease the duration of clinical symptoms and cyst passage. (+info)
Pleural empyema secondary to rupture of amoebic liver abscess.
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Amoebiasis is a worldwide parasitic infection although it is more prevalent in the subtropical and tropical countries. Extraintestinal amoebic infections currently have been reported in increased numbers of male homosexuals and immunocompromised patients. Here, we present an interesting case of a 27-year-old homosexual man with pleural empyema secondary to rupture of amoebic liver abscess. Using chest tube and percutaneous liver abscess drainage, the patient was treated with metronidazole followed by iodoquinol. His general condition improved dramatically. After one-year of follow-up, there was no evidence of relapse on plain chest radiography and abdominal CT scan. (+info)
Zinc and di-iodohydroxyquinoline therapy in acrodermatitis enteropathica.
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A 25-year-old patient with acrodermatitis enteropathica who had been treated with di-iodohydroxyquinoline for 20 years was changed to zinc sulphate therapy and studied under full metabolic balance control for zinc, calcium, magnesium, and inorganic phosphorus. The results obtained indicate that there is only a small overall deficit of body zinc stores in this disease and that the function of di-iodohydroxyquinoline is to increase the amount of zinc absorbed and retained by the body. (+info)
Treatment of pulmonary aspergillosis with di-iodohydroxyquinoline.
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Thirteen patients with a clinical diagnosis of pulmonary aspergillosis were treated with the anti-amoebic drug di-iodohydroxyquinoline, 1500-1800 mg/day orally, for 20 days. All were precipitin positive before treatment and all but one became negative after treatment. Sputum became negative in all of the 10 patients in whom it had been positive before treatment. Clinical improvement was marked in four patients, moderate in three, and slight in three, no change occurring in the remaining three. These results suggest that di-iodohydroxyquinoline may be of value in the treatment of pulmonary aspergillosis. (+info)
Parasitic disease control in a residential facility for the mentally retarded.
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Asymptomatic infection with either Entameba histolytica or Giardia lamblia was found in 61 per cent of the residents of a dormitory in an institution for the mentally retarded; two other dormitories had rates of 20 per cent and 22 per cent. Drug therapy was successfully undertaken in all three dormitories, and environmental improvements were introduced in the heavily infected dormitory. A one-year follow-up showed a reduction in parasitic disease in two dormitories but, in the most heavily infected dormitory, infection had returned to pretreatment levels. (+info)
Susceptibility testing of Dientamoeba fragilis ATCC 30948 with iodoquinol, paromomycin, tetracycline, and metronidazole.
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Susceptibility testing was performed on Dientamoeba fragilis ATCC 30948 in a dixenic culture with Klebsiella pneumoniae and Bacteroides vulgatus. D. fragilis was cocultured with the bacteria in TYGM-9 medium (ATCC medium 1171). The activities of antiparasitic drugs were assessed by counting viable D. fragilis trophozoites with a hemacytometer by trypan blue exclusion. The minimal amebicidal concentrations of the following four drugs were determined: iodoquinol at 128 micrograms/ml, paromomycin at 16 micrograms/ml, tetracycline (questionably) at 32 micrograms/ml, and metronidazole at 32 micrograms/ml. (+info)