title: Cytopathic effect of Blastocystis hominis after intramuscular inoculation into laboratory mice.
abstract: The present study investigated the pathogenesis of Blastocystis hominis by intramuscular injection of the organism into experimental mice. A total of 27 naïve BALB/c mice aged 6-8 weeks were injected in the leg muscle with axenic culture isolate B of B. hominis. Histological examination at different times revealed that B. hominis could produce a severe inflammatory reaction and myonecrosis. Most changes were observed at 6 h after injection and for up to 2-3 days. By 2 weeks the muscle had regained normal histology. There was infiltration of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PML) into the injection site, indicating that B. hominis had a strong chemoattractant activity for PML.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: K T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Moe
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gopalakrishnakone
authors.forename: L C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: X Q
authors.initials: XQ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: E H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Yap
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016776:Blastocystis Infections / Q000473:pathology*; D016845:Blastocystis hominis; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000648:ultrastructure; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000473:pathology*; D009336:Necrosis; D009504:Neutrophils; D014617:Vacuoles / Q000648:ultrastructure