Sporozoa Health Dictionary

Sporozoa: From 2 Different Sources


The name of a group of parasitic PROTOZOA which includes the parasitic Plasmodium that causes MALARIA. The life-cycles of sporozoa are complex, often with sexual and asexual stages.
Health Source: Medical Dictionary
Author: Health Dictionary
n. a group of parasitic protozoans that includes *Plasmodium, the malaria parasite. Most sporozoans do not have cilia or flagella. Sporozoan life cycles are complex and usually involve both sexual and asexual stages. Some sporozoans are parasites of invertebrates, and the parasites are passed to new hosts by means of spores. Sporozoans that parasitize vertebrates are transmitted from host to host by invertebrates, which act as intermediate hosts. For example, the mosquito Anopheles is the intermediate host of Plasmodium.
Health Source: Oxford | Concise Colour Medical Dictionary
Author: Jonathan Law, Elizabeth Martin

Schizogony

An asexual phase in the life-cycle of a sporozoan (see SPOROZOA) that occurs in red blood cells or liver cells.... schizogony

Apicomplexa

Sporozoan protozoa which have no organs of locomotion. Includes the malaria parasites (Plasmodium) and Toxoplasma.... apicomplexa

Sporozoites

Sporozoites is one cell type of the many that are formed during the life-cycle of SPOROZOA. In the case of MALARIA, sporozoites pass into the salivary glands of the mosquito and and are the infecting agent of the human host when the insect next feeds on human blood.... sporozoites

Plasmodium

n. a genus of protozoans (see Sporozoa) that live as parasites within human red blood cells and liver cells. The parasite undergoes its asexual development (see schizogony) in humans and completes the sexual phase of its development (see sporogony) in the stomach and digestive glands of a bloodsucking *Anopheles mosquito. Four species cause *malaria: P. vivax, P. ovale, P. falciparum, and P. malariae.... plasmodium

Sarcocystis

n. a genus of parasitic protozoans (see Sporozoa) that infect birds, reptiles, and herbivorous mammals. S. lindemanni, which occasionally infects humans, forms cylindrical cysts (sarcocysts) in the muscle fibres. In heavy infections these cysts can cause tissue degeneration and therefore provoke muscular pain and weakness. Sarcocysts have, in the few positively diagnosed cases, been located in the heart muscles, arm muscles, and larynx.... sarcocystis

Schizont

n. one of the stages that occurs during the asexual phase of the life cycle of a sporozoan. See schizogony.... schizont

Sporogony

n. the formation of *sporozoites during the life cycle of a sporozoan. The contents of the zygote, formed by the fusion of sex cells, divide repeatedly and eventually release a number of sporozoites. Compare schizogony.... sporogony

Sporozoite

n. one of the many cells formed as a result of *sporogony during the life cycle of a sporozoan. In *Plasmodium sporozoites are formed by repeated divisions of the contents of the *oocyst inside the body of the mosquito. The released sporozoites ultimately pass into the insect’s salivary glands and await transmission to a human host at the next blood meal.... sporozoite

Toxoplasma

n. a genus of crescent-shaped sporozoans that live as parasites within the cells of various tissues and organs of vertebrate animals, especially birds and mammals, and complete their life cycle in a single host, the cat. T. gondii infects sheep, cattle, dogs, and humans, sometimes provoking an acute illness (see toxoplasmosis).... toxoplasma



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