Geraldo Attilio De Carli

Aspectos clínicos, patogênese e diagnóstico de Trichomonas vaginalis

Trichomonas vaginalis is the aethiologic agent of trichomoniasis, the sexually transmitted disease (STD) non-viral most common in the world. This flagellate protozoan successfully reaches the parasitism in a hostile environment through some mechanisms which establish its pathogenicity and also through its capacity to evade the host immune response. Trichomoniasis presents a large variety of clinical manifestations, from a totally asymptomatic infection to severe vaginitis. It has been associated to the increase in transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), pelvic inflammatory disease, cervical cancer, infertility, and premature delivery and low birth weight of children born from infected mothers. The laboratorial inquiry is essential in diagnosis of this STD, leads to the appropriate treatment and facilitates the control of the spread of T. vaginalis infection. The annual world prevalence of trichomoniasis is 180 million cases and in Europe it is responsible for 41% of vaginitis cases. The treatment of trichomoniasis includes the same profilatic means devoted to others STDs, such as secure sex practice and preservative use. Metronidazole is the choose for the treatment of trichomoniasis, however, due to the fail in the single dose treatment and the imminent appearance of resistant strains, other therapeutic alternatives are been investigated.

COAGULOPATHY IN DOGS INFECTED WITH Trypanosoma (Trypanozoon) evansi (STEEL, 1885) BALBIANI, 1888

Los autores estudiaran las alteraciones hematologicas de 14 perros experimentalmente infectados con Trypanosoma evansi (Steel, 1885) Balbiani, 1888. LA fase aguda se caracterizo por la disminucion del numero de eritrocitos, plaquetas y de la tasa de hemoglobina corpuscular media (CHCM), del hematocrito y por un aumento del indice de activacion del tiempo de tromboplastina parcial (ATTP) (p 0.05)

Hemolytic activity of Trichomonas vaginalis and Tritrichomonas foetus

The hemolytic activity of live isolates and clones of Trichomonas vaginalis and Tritrichomonas foetus was investigated. The isolates were tested against human erythrocytes. No hemolytic activity was detected by the isolates of T. foetus. Whereas the isolates of T. vaginalis lysed erythrocytes from all human blood groups. No hemolysin released by the parasites could be detected. Our preliminary results suggest that hemolysis depend on the susceptibility of red cell membranes to destabilization and the intervention of cell surface receptors as a mechanism of the hemolytic activity. The mechanism could be subject to strain-species-genera specific variation of trichomonads. The hemolytic activity of T. vaginalis is not due to a hemolysin or to a product of its metabolism. Pretreatment of trichomonads with concanavalin A reduced levels of hemolysis by 40%.

Microtubule cytoskeleton distribution using fluorescent taxoid in tetratrichomonas didelphidis

ABSTRACT Tetratrichomonas didelphidis is a flagellated protozoan found in the intestine of opossums. Thespecimens were stained by the Giemsa method and by FLUTAX-2, an active fluorescent derivative ofTaxol which binds to the αβ -tubulin polimerized of microtubules of cells. Giemsa stain revealed themorphological features of trichomonads such as four anterior flagella, undulating membrane, axostyleand posterior flagellum. An intense fluorescence was observed in living trophozoites of T. didelphidis and Trichomonas vaginalis (used as control), incubated with FLUTAX-2. An analysis of thecomposition of the cytoskeleton of T. didelphidis will contribute to understanding the cellularmorphology of the parasites. Key words: Tetratrichomonas didelphidis , microtubule cytoskeleton, fluorescent taxoid. INTRODUCTIONFew trichomonad species have a provenpathogenic potential for mammals and birds. Ingeneral, the species inhabiting trichomonadprimary sites, i. e., the large intestine, appear tobe non pathogenic. The species with provenpathogenic potential have evolved to inhabit areasother than the large intestine of their hosts