Lifecycles of Pathogenic Protists in Humans
According to the World Health Organisation, cryptosporidiosis is a global diarrhoeal disease affecting millions of individuals; it is the second most common cause of infantile death in developing countries and is increasingly identified as an emerging cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The disease is also extremely severe in livestock, causing profuse diarrhoea and considerable economic losses in farmed young animals. Given the lack of effective treatment (absence of vaccines and effective drugs) and the limited understanding of the causative parasite, cryptosporidiosis represents a major challenge in the battle against global diarrhoeal diseases. Currently, there are 45 described Cryptosporidium species infecting a whole spectrum of animals. In this book chapter we will present an overview of the parasite, focusing on its taxonomic status, its morphology, its prevalence and transmission. We will review both cell biological and molecular techniques currently used to investigate the biology of this parasite and we will introduce the new state-of-the-art techniques that have been established by several laboratories in the field. With the development of these new technologies, we will be able to further understand the unique biology of Cryptosporidium and its role in health and disease of its host.
Introduction:
Cryptosporidium is a genus of single-cell microbial parasites that infect the gut of a diverse range of vertebrate species causing mild to severe diarrhoea. In humans, several Cryptosporidium species have been shown to cause cryptosporidiosis (Nader et al. 2019), a global diarrhoeal disease affecting millions of individuals; it is the second most common cause of infantile death in developing countries and is increasingly identified as an emerging cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide (Kotloff et al. 2013; Checkley et al. 2015; Platts-Mills et al. 2015). The disease is also extremely severe in livestock, causing profuse diarrhoea and considerable economic losses in farmed young calves and lambs (Joachim et al. 2003; Thompson and Ash 2016). Given the lack of effective treatment (absence of vaccines and effective drugs) and the limited understanding of the causative parasite, cryptosporidiosis represents a major challenge in the battle against global diarrhoeal diseases.
In this book chapter we will present the status quo on Cryptosporidium: from its taxonomy, to its biology and the host-parasite interactions, both in the cellular, but also within a community level (e.g. gut microbiome)
Pinto P., Ribeiro C.A., Kváč M., Tsaousis A.D. 2022: Cryptosporidium. In: W. de Souza (Eds.), Lifecycles of Pathogenic Protists in Humans, Microbiology Monographs series - Volume 35. Springer, Cham, pp. 331-389. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-80682-8_7
