Trichomonas intestinalis represents a protozoan that belongs to the trichonomad group. As a resident of the small intestine, it feeds as a commensal. Trichomonas intestinalis is thought to be responsible for a form of dysentery.
What is Trichomonas intestinalis?
The importance of Trichomonas intestinalis to health is not yet clear. It is a protozoan and belongs to the trichonomad group. Trichomonas intestinalis is mainly resident in the intestine. There it feeds as a so-called commensal without parasitic properties. In general, Trichomonas intestinalis is considered harmless. It is a co-inhabitant which, according to current knowledge, does not actually exert any negative or positive influences on the organism. However, certain diarrheal diseases are associated with this pathogen. However, whether it is the causative agent or a co-pathogen in these dysenteries cannot be clearly answered to date. As a protozoan, Trichomonas intestinalis belongs to the unicellular protozoa. It is related to Trichomonas vaginalis, a trichonomad that causes sexually transmitted trichomoniasis as a parasite. However, unlike Trichomonas vaginalis, almost little is known about Trichomonas intestinalis. There is even some doubt to this day that it is the actual causative agent of the dysentery attributed to it. Trichomonas intestinalis, like all trichonomads, belongs to the flagellates. Flagellates are flagellate animals. Thus, they possess a flagellum for locomotion. Trichomonas intestinalis feeds on intestinal bacteria.
Occurrence, distribution, and characteristics
When speaking of trichonomads, we usually refer to Trichomonas vaginalis and the trichomoniasis caused by this pathogen. This pathogen lives parasitically and is resident in the vagina, prostate, under the foreskin of the penis or the urethra. In men, infection is asymptomatic, while in women, inflammation occurs in the vagina. Trichomonas intestinalis is a related species. However, its habitat is in the small intestine of humans. There it usually behaves absolutely inconspicuously, so that it hardly plays a role in descriptions of trichonomads. Trichomonas intestinalis was already described by Leukart in 1879. It is a four-flagellate flagellate that appears pear-shaped. The pear-shaped cell is 5 to 15 micrometers long and up to 5 micrometers wide. Of the four flagella, three function as anterior flagella at the thicker end of the flagellate. They arise from a single common basal body. The three anterior flagella are relatively short. The fourth flagellum arises from an adjacent smaller basal body and encompasses the body as an undulated membrane. Towards the back the shape of the protozoa is pointed. At the anterior thicker end is the nucleus. It contains 8 chromosomes. Trichomonas intestinalis, like any protozoan, reproduces asexually by cell division. Cell division occurs in the motile state by longitudinal division. In addition to twofold divisions, threefold and multiple divisions have also been observed. Currently, no cysts, i.e. resting stages, of Trichomonas intestinalis are known. Resting cysts have been demonstrated for other Trichonomas species. Usually, Trichomonas intestinalis lives in the small intestine. However, it has also been found in the oral cavity, especially in decayed teeth. Sometimes it also enters the lungs and colonizes there. Furthermore, it has been found by some scientists that Trichomonas intestinalis can also colonize in the stomach when it is no longer acidic. So this means that it can survive there in certain stomach diseases.
Importance and function
What significance Trichomonas intestinalis has for the human body is not well understood. It does not appear to occur as a parasite. Rather, evidence suggests that it leads a commensal lifestyle. Commensals are organisms that live in a host but do not harm it in the process. They feed on the food residues of the host. Thus, it is assumed that Trichomonas intestinalis actually has no particular significance for the human organism. Since it can be detected in the stomach of patients with achylia gastrica (absence of gastric acid), it was initially suspected by some authors that Trichomonas intestinalis could possibly act as a marker for gastric carcinoma.However, there is also benign achylia gastrica, which is not caused by stomach cancer. In this form of the disease, Trichomonas intestinalis is also found in the stomach. Thus, its significance for the diagnosis of malignant tumors is also omitted.
Diseases and complaints
As mentioned above, the significance of Trichomonas intestinalis as a pathogen is also controversial. Larger amounts of this pathogen have repeatedly been found in association with diarrheal diseases. At least this finding means that Trichomonas intestinalis can also enter the colon. Therefore, it has been held responsible for diarrhea resembling dysentery (dysentery or amoebic dysentery). Doubts arose, however, when Trichomonas intestinalis was also detected in the stool sample of healthy individuals who had taken more laxatives. It is possible that the pathogens aggravate existing diarrheal diseases in the context of co-infection or other intestinal diseases. However, even this assumption now seems questionable, because Trichomonas intestinalis has never been detected in intestinal ulcers. Transmission of the pathogen has also not yet been observed. Much therefore points to the complete harmlessness of the pathogen. On the other hand, it has been found that Trichomonas intestinalis is no longer detectable in the stool after the diarrheal disease has healed. This, in turn, does imply some significance of the pathogen for intestinal diseases.
