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Innate Host Defenses in the Gut

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Amebiasis

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Abstract

In the human intestine, evolutionary pressures have selected host and parasite mechanisms that maintain spatial separation of Entamoeba histolytica on the luminal side of the mucus–epithelial barrier. The function of the barrier is conferred by many systems acting on multiple levels. Mechanisms that strengthen and maintain stability of the epithelial barrier are critical for preventing disease and keeping E. histolytica infections asymptomatic. It is unknown why invasion happens. Intestinal epithelial cells are in close and continuous proximity to the parasite, and abnormal responses by epithelial cells are suspected to instigate disease. This interaction, however, is poorly understood. When invasion occurs the gut has a second line of innate defenses that rapidly eliminate the parasite: sensing of invasion by resident cells, innate humoral immunity, and recruitment of competent immune cells to sites of invasion. The pathology that arises during invasion, which culminates as amebic dysentery or colitis, is a combined effect of direct damage by trophozoites and collateral damage from host defenses.

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Acknowledgments

The research presented in this chapter was supported by grants from the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR). L.M. is supported by studentships from NSERC and Alberta Innovates Health Solutions. K.C. holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair supported by CIHR.

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  1. Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Gastrointestinal Research Group, Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Leanne Mortimer & Kris Chadee

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  1. Leanne Mortimer
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  2. Kris Chadee
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Correspondence to Kris Chadee .

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  1. Department of Parasitology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Tomoyoshi Nozaki

  2. Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India

    Alok Bhattacharya

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Mortimer, L., Chadee, K. (2015). Innate Host Defenses in the Gut. In: Nozaki, T., Bhattacharya, A. (eds) Amebiasis. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-55200-0_24

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