Dientamoeba fragilis is a protozoan parasite of the human bowel, commonly reported throughout the world in association with gastrointestinal symptoms. Despite its initial discovery over 100 years ago, arguably, we know less about this peculiar organism than any other pathogenic or potentially pathogenic protozoan that infects humans. The details of its life cycle and mode of transmission are not completely known, and its potential as a human pathogen is debated within the scientific community. Recently, several major advances have been made with respect to this organism's life cycle and molecular biology. While many questions remain unanswered, these and other recent advances have given rise to some intriguing new leads, which will pave the way for future research. This review encompasses a large body of knowledge generated on various aspects of D. fragilis over the last century, together with an update on the most recent developments. This includes an update on the latest diagnostic techniques and treatments, the clinical aspects of dientamoebiasis, the development of an animal model, the description of a D. fragilis cyst stage, and the sequencing of the first D. fragilis transcriptome.

中文翻译：

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脆弱双阿米巴，一种被忽视的人类肠道毛滴虫。


脆弱双阿米巴是人类肠道的一种原生动物寄生虫，世界各地普遍报道与胃肠道症状有关。尽管它是在 100 多年前首次发现的，但可以说，我们对这种奇特生物的了解还不如感染人类的​​任何其他致病性或潜在致病性原生动物。其生命周期和传播方式的细节尚不完全清楚，科学界对其作为人类病原体的潜力存在争议。最近，在该生物体的生命周期和分子生物学方面取得了几项重大进展。虽然许多问题仍未得到解答，但这些和其他最新进展已经产生了一些有趣的新线索，这将为未来的研究铺平道路。这篇综述涵盖了上个世纪关于脆弱 D. fragilis 各个方面的大量知识，以及最新进展的更新。其中包括最新诊断技术和治疗的更新、二线阿米巴病的临床方面、动物模型的开发、脆弱线虫包囊阶段的描述以及第一个脆弱线虫转录组的测序。