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Electron microscopic changes in Enterocytozoon bieneusi following treatment with albendazole.
  1. C Blanshard,
  2. D S Ellis,
  3. S P Dowell,
  4. G Tovey,
  5. B G Gazzard
  1. HIV/Genitourinary Medicine Department, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London.

    Abstract

    AIM--To identify and describe electron microscopic changes occurring in Enterocytozoon bieneusi in patients treated with albendazole. METHODS--Eighteen HIV seropositive patients with E bieneusi infection of the small intestine were treated with albendazole 400 mg twice a day for one month. Duodenal biopsy specimens obtained before and at the end of treatment were examined electron microscopically by a pathologist who was unaware of the clinical response. A semiquantitative assessment of the parasite load and description of the parasite morphology was made. RESULTS--A complete resolution of diarrhoea occurred in nine patients and a further three had a greater than 50% reduction in baseline stool frequency or volume. Three of the non-responders were also infected with cryptosporidium. There was a reduction in parasite load in those responding to treatment and an increase in abnormal forms in both responders and non-responders. CONCLUSION--The clinical response to albendazole treatment seen in some patients with small intestine microsporidiosis may be due to damage to the developmental stages, causing a partial inhibition of parasite reproduction.

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