Influence of Blastocystis hominis on the small intestine and lactase enzyme activity

Theodor Bilharz Research Institute

Bibliographic Information

Authors: Basuony G.A.; M.A.Basyoni M.; Negm M.S.I.; Mostafa E.A.M.; El-Wakil E.S.; Shemis M.A.; Gouda A.E.; Saftawy E.A.E.

Journal: Journal of Parasitic Diseases

Publisher: Springer

Publication Date: 24 August 2021

Volume / Issue: Volume 46 / Issue 1

Pages: 243–253

ISSN: 9717196

DOI: 10.1007/s12639-021-01442-6

Scopus: View on Scopus

Document Type: Article

Access: All Open Access; Green Open Access

Authors and Affiliations

Basuony G.A., Parasitology Department, Kasr Al-Ainy School of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt; M.A.Basyoni M., Parasitology Department, Kasr Al-Ainy School of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt; Negm M.S.I., Pathology Department, Kasr Al-Ainy School of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt; Mostafa E.A.M., Parasitology department, Theodor Bilharz Research Institute, Cairo, Egypt; El-Wakil E.S., Parasitology department, Theodor Bilharz Research Institute, Cairo, Egypt; Shemis M.A., Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department, Theodore Bilharz Research Institute, Giza, Egypt; Gouda A.E., Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department, Theodore Bilharz Research Institute, Giza, Egypt; Saftawy E.A.E., Parasitology Department, Kasr Al-Ainy School of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt, Medical Parasitology Department, College of Medicine, Armed Forces College of Medicine (AFCM), Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

Blastocystis hominis is a cosmopolitan protozoan that has been associated with several gastrointestinal disturbances involving lactose intolerance. However, the underlying pathogenic factors remain indistinct. 20 Swiss albino mice were utilized and assembled into four groups, each of five mice: group-I: received neither infection nor lactose (healthy control), group-II: received a single dose of 10,000 cysts of Blastocystis and lactose diets in a dose of 12.5 g/day/mouse for 7 consecutive days starting from day 14 p.i., group-III: non-infected mice with oral doses of lactose (12.5 g/day/mouse) for 7 consecutive days (positive control), group-IV: infected mice on lactose free diet (negative control). We investigated the histopathological changes using H&E stain.s Also, lactase enzyme activity was measured using spectrophotometry and the production of TNF-α and apoptotic events were explored via immunohistochemistry and compared in the small intestine of all groups. The active inflammatory changes in the infected animals were moderate in the form of loss of villous architecture, increased ILC (P-value > 0.001) besides scattered forms of the parasite as compared to non-infected mice. There was a reduction in lactase enzyme activity p.i. The TNF-α levels were induced p.i. as compared to non-infected mice (P-value > 0.001). The expression of Bax protein was upgraded, while Bcl-2 expression decreased significantly with a reverse in Bax/Bcl2 ratio in infected animals. Blastocystis infection appears to humble lactase enzyme activity via the induction of apoptosis in the epithelial cells of the small intestinal brush border in a TNF-α associative pathway. © 2021, Indian Society for Parasitology.

Keywords

Bax; Bcl2; Blastocystosis; Lactase enzyme; TNF-α; eosin; gamma interferon; hematoxylin; lactase; protein Bax; protein bcl 2; triton x 100; tumor necrosis factor; abdominal distension; animal experiment; animal tissue; Article; bioassay; Blastocystis hominis; colonoscopy; controlled study; enzyme activity; feces analysis; gastrointestinal symptom; histopathology; immunohistochemistry; inflammation; lactose intolerance; mouse; nausea and vomiting; nonhuman; parasite isolation; protein expression; small intestine; spectrophotometry; Verner Morrison syndrome

Citation Information

Scopus Citations: 7

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