A comparison of two microsporidian parasites in enterocytes of AIDS patients with chronic diarrhea.

Enterocytozoon bieneusi was first described by electron microscopy in 1985 in intestinal biopsies from an AIDS patient. It has subsequently been observed in many AIDS patients with chronic diarrhea from the U.S.A., Africa, and Europe. Morphologically, this parasite meets the criteria for being a microsporidian but has unique features justifying the creation of a a new genus and family. It has organelles not seen in microsporida before, i.e. elongated nuclei, electron-lucent inclusions, electron-dense discs, and development of multiple polar tubules in a single cell prior to the final cytokinetic process producing many sporoblasts. However, it produces typical microsporidian spores. Recently, a second type of microsporidian has been observed in similar biopsies from an AIDS patient which resembles an Encephalitozoon except that it secretes a fine network of material in which the developing organisms become embedded. During sporogony, each cell appears to be in a separate chamber. These two parasites are morphologically and pathologically compared.