title: Morbidity due to Schistosoma mansoni--Entamoeba histolytica coinfection in hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus).
abstract: Data on Schistosoma mansoni-Entamoeba histolytica coinfection are scarce in the literature. In the present study, hamsters that had been infected for 70 days with Schistosoma mansoni (LE strain) were inoculated via the portal vein with two strains of trophozoites of Entamoeba histolytica: ICB-EGG (highly virulent) and ICB-RPS (non-virulent). The most evident result of coinfection was increased morbidity and mortality, in comparison with either of the infections alone. Histologically, there were no evident signs of interaction between these two infections. The morphological findings of schistosomal granuloma and amoebic abscesses in the liver were similar to those seen in the respective single-infection controls. However, there was severe wasting of the animals with both infections and greater numbers of amoebic lesions in their livers. The results obtained indicated that schistosomiasis aggravates the course of amoebiasis in hamsters.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Amebíase, Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG.
authors.forename: Silvio Santana
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Dolabella
authors.forename: Paulo Marcos Zech
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Coelho
authors.forename: Izabela Torquetti
authors.initials: IT
authors.lastname: Borçari
authors.forename: Nelson Azevedo Santos Teixeira
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Mello
authors.forename: Zilton de Araújo
authors.initials: Zde A
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.forename: Edward Felix
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Silva
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006224:Cricetinae; D004748:Entamoeba histolytica / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D005260:Female; D008101:Liver Abscess, Amebic / Q000150:complications* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008647:Mesocricetus; D012550:Schistosoma mansoni / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D012555:Schistosomiasis mansoni / Q000150:complications* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index