The adherence of Giardia lamblia trophozoites to nylon fibre microcolumns: effect of temperature, fluoride, cyanide and metronidazole

Modeling and analysis of propulsion in the multiflagellated micoorganism Giardia lamblia

The goal of this work was to analyze the propulsion of multiflagellated microorganisms, and to draw insight to the underlying physics and biology of the movement. Giardia lamblia was chosen as the model organism due to its unique ability to mechanically attach to various surfaces, its rapid movement, and its fine control over steering and navigation. In this work, a mechanics model was utilized to study the mechanics and propulsive contribution of the ventral and anterior flagella in Giardia. It was discovered that energy is supplied mainly at the proximal portion of these flagella, supporting the hypothesis that a decreasing adenosine triphosphate (ATP) gradient along the length of the flagella would not affect the motion observed. Similarly, the elasticity of the flagella allows the energy input at the proximal portion to be transferred to the distal portion, where the majority of thrust is generated. Specifically, we found that the ventral flagella are the driving force for planar propulsion and turning, while the anterior flagella are used for steering and control.

High-speed microscopic imaging of flagella motility and swimming in Giardia lamblia trophozoites

We report, in this paper, several findings about the swimming and attachment mechanisms of Giardia lamblia trophozoites. These data were collected using a combination of a high-contrast CytoViva imaging system and a particle image velocimetry camera, which can capture images at speeds greater than 800 frames/s. Using this system, we discovered that, during rapid swimming of Giardia trophozoites, undulations of the caudal region contributed to forward propulsion combined with the beating of the flagella pairs. It was also discovered, in contrast to previous studies with 10 times slower image sampling technique, that the anterior and posterolateral flagella beat with a clearly defined power stroke and not symmetrical undulations. During the transition from free swimming to attachment, trophozoites modified their swimming behavior from a rapid rotating motion to a more stable planar swimming. While using this planar swimming motion, the trophozoites used the flagella for propulsion and directional control. In addition to examination of the posterolateral and anterior flagella, a model to describe the motion of the ventral flagella was derived, indicating that the ventral flagella beat in an expanding sine wave. In addition, the structure of the ventrocaudal groove creates boundary conditions that determine the form of beating of the ventral flagella. The results from this study indicate that Giardia is able to simultaneously generate both ciliary beating and typical eukaryotic flagellar beating using different pairs of flagella.

Effect of human milk and infant milk formulae on adherence of Giardia intestinalis

Human milk was shown to inhibit adherence of Giardia at concentrations as low as 0.5%. Unsaturated fatty acids were also found to cause significant inhibitory effects on adherence, with ED50 values less than 1 microM for arachidonic, linoleic and palmitic acids. A variety of infant feeding formulae derived from cow's milk and soy bean had suppressive effects on adherence. These observations may explain in part the low prevalence of giardiasis in young infants.

Inhibition of adherence of Giardia intestinalis by human neutrophils and monocytes

Human neutrophils and monocytes were found to be capable of interfering with the in vitro adherence of Giardia intestinalis. Significantly greater inhibition of adherence was shown by stimulated phagocytic cells than by unstimulated cells. Both azurophil and specific granules extracted from the cytoplasm of neutrophils were equally potent in their adherence inhibitory activity. Dose-dependent effects on adherence were observed with granular enzymes and reactive oxygen species. Lower concentrations of reactive oxygen species were required for adherence inhibition that for growth inhibition. These results suggest that the adherence mechanism of G. intestinalis may be a feasible target for immunological attack by phagocytic cells.

Sensitivity in vitro of Giardia intestinalis to dyadic combinations of azithromycin, doxycycline, mefloquine, tinidazole and furazolidone

The new macrolide antibiotic, azithromycin, produced significant growth inhibition of Giardia intestinalis at 100 micrograms/ml, but adherence inhibition was significant at concentrations as low as 1 microgram/ml for the two strains used in these experiments. The dyadic combinations of azithromycin-furazolidone, doxycycline-mefloquine, doxycycline-tinidazole and mefloquine-tinidazole were synergistic for inhibition of adherence. These results suggest that these dyadic combinations may be worthy of consideration for chemotherapy of recalcitrant giardiasis.

Effect of twenty-three chemotherapeutic agents on the adherence and growth of Giardia lamblia in vitro

The sensitivity of Giardia lamblia to 23 chemotherapeutic agents was evaluated in vitro with a Growth Inhibition Assay and a recently developed Adherence Inhibition Assay. Of the four established anti-giardia drugs, tinidazole, metronidazole, and furazolidone were found to have strong inhibitory effects on both growth and adherence, while mepacrine had a strong effect on growth only. Three drugs (mefloquine, doxycycline and rifampin) not previously used in giardiasis were found to have significant activity in vitro and may deserve consideration for clinical evaluation of efficacy. Also, the concurrent use of these two in vitro methods provided significant insights into the modes of action of some of these drugs on G. lamblia.