Morphology - Table 1

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Table 1
Characteristics of Intestinal Amebae Visible in Different Types of Fecal Preparations

	UNSTAINED		TEMPORARY STAINS		PERMANENT STAINS
Characteristic	Saline	Formalin	Iodine (Cysts)	Buffered Methylene Blue (Trophs)¹
Trophozoites
Motility	+
Cytoplasm
Appearance	+	+		+	+
Inclusions (rbc., bacteria)	+	+		+	+
Nucleus		+²		+	+
Cysts
Nuclei		+	+		+
Chromatoid bodies	+	+	+³		+
Glycogen			+		(vacuole present)

¹Quensel's stain may be substituted for buffered methylene blue.²Nuclei of trophozoites are visible in formalin-fixed material but are usually not sufficiently distinctive for species identification.³Chromatoid bodies are more easily seen in unstained wet mounts than in iodine preparations.

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