Changes in Phenotypic and Genotypic Characteristics of Giardia Lamblia Isolates during Chronic Infection

Immunopathology of giardiasis

“…It is also not clear as to whether in a natural human infection there is a single genotype present or whether infection is polyclonal. A study in our own laboratory has recently shown that it is likely that the latter is the case, since a genotypically and phenotypically distinct isolate emerged after treatment with multiple courses of metronidazole [11]; we cannot exclude the possibility, however, that the drug itself could have effected these changes in the parasite since it is a known mutagen. Such a question can only be answered by producing multiple clones of the parasite from single isolates and subjecting these to typing procedures which can differentiate related and unrelated isolates.…”