Impact of protein malnutrition on histological parameters of experimentally infected animals with Giardia lamblia.

Giardiasis is one of the most common parasitic diseases worldwide, and the disease is an important cause of diarrhoea and malabsorption in children and immunosuppressed individuals. However, there is no evidence that characterises malnutrition as an aggravating factor for this disease. We evaluated changes in villi structures to examine the association between malnutrition and Giardia lamblia infection.

Giardia duodenalis: pathological alterations in gerbils, Meriones unguiculatus, infected with different dosages of trophozoites.

To examine the infection kinetics and development of alterations in the small intestine of gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus), 72 gerbils were divided into six groups (A to F), with A serving as control and the others inoculated with increasing doses of trophozoites from Giardia duodenalis human isolate. The infection kinetics and the development of histopathological alterations were monitored by optical scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A 12-day prepatent period was observed, with intermittent elimination up to day 35 after inoculation.

Effect of metronidazole analogues on Giardia lamblia cultures.

We comparatively evaluate the effect of metronidazole (MTZ) and its five analogues on trophozoites of Giardia lamblia axenically growing. The compounds MTZ-Ms, MTZ-I, MTZ-Br, MTZ-N(3), and MTZ-NH(3)Cl were obtained by molecular modification of the side chain of MTZ. Four of them presented higher giardicidal activity when compared with MTZ.