Cyst production and transmission of Entamoeba and Endolimax

We studied the cyst production of 340 asymptomatic carriers with single or mixed infections of Entamoeba histolytica/Entamoeba dispar, Endolimax nana and Entamoeba coli. It was found that the main source of transmission was a small group of 37 (10·9%) carriers who produced 70·2% of all cysts. Gender was an important factor for cyst production of Ent. histolytica/Ent. dispar, since males produced 6-fold more cysts than females. Females produced ‘large’ (13–15 μm) Ent. histolytica/Ent. dispar cysts and males small (10–12 μm) cysts when concentration was >2000 cysts/g. When concentration was < 2000 cysts/g, cysts were the same size for both sexes (11·6 ± 0·3 μm). In Ent. coli infections, an inverse relationship between the number and size of cyst was found for both sexes. Cysts of End. nana were not affected by gender or cyst concentration. Following cyst production by a carrier infected with Ent. coli and Ent. histolytica for 28 days, we identified synchronized cycles of cyst production for both species. Altogether, these data suggest that cyst-mediated transmission is a highly regulated process in which synchronization among different species and gender of the host have an important role in transmission.