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Experimental keratitis induced in rat by Acanthamoeba from distinct morphological groups/genotypes: a histological and immunohistochemical evaluation

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Abstract

Species of the genus Acanthamoeba are free-living protozoans that occasionally act as parasites, causing a severe, progressive corneal infection termed Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK). The variable pathogenic potential among Acanthamoeba lineages has been shown by in vitro assays, but little is known about the behavior of different strains in animal models of AK. This work aimed to evaluate the infectivity of Acanthamoeba from distinct morphological groups and genotypes in a rat model of AK and apply an immunohistochemical technique for histological characterization of the lesions. Only a strain classified as group I/genotype T17, isolated from a soil source, caused ulcerated corneal lesions in two Wistar rats (n = 9) subjected to intrastromal inoculation. Two strains derived from AK human cases (group II/genotype T4 and group III/genotype T5) did not induce corneal lesions in the rats. A previous association of group II/genotype T4 trophozoites with lethally irradiated Escherichia coli did not influence the infectivity. A hyperimmune serum produced in Wistar rats was validated by an immunocytochemical technique using the three distinct strains and then applied for immunohistochemistry. The abundance of antigenic residues was observed in both corneas with keratitis, suggesting that the infectious process tended to resolve. Despite the low infection rate of the AK Wistar rat model, we produced an immunochemical tool with a potential diagnostic application. We also showed for the first time the ability of Acanthamoeba from T17 genotype to cause AK in experimental conditions.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Maria Adelaide Fernandes for providing technical support to care for and breed the animals.

Funding

This work was supported by grants from the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais-FAPEMIG, APQ-01100–14.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Análises Clínicas e Toxicológicas, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

    Norberto de Souza Fernandes, Isabela Aurora Rodrigues & Adriana Oliveira Costa

  2. Departamento de Patologia Geral, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Marcelo Vidigal Caliari & Fabricio Marcos Silva Oliveira

  3. Departamento de Patologia, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (UFES), Espírito Santo, Vitória, Brazil

    Alexandre Batista Costa Neto

  4. Santa Casa de Misericórdia, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Cinthia Furst

Authors
  1. Norberto de Souza Fernandes
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  2. Marcelo Vidigal Caliari
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  3. Fabricio Marcos Silva Oliveira
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  4. Alexandre Batista Costa Neto
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  5. Isabela Aurora Rodrigues
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  6. Cinthia Furst
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  7. Adriana Oliveira Costa
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Contributions

Adriana Oliveira Costa, Marcelo Vidigal Caliari, and Cinthia Furst conceived and designed the study, contributed to the data analysis, and supervised the experiments and manuscript writing. Norberto de Souza Fernandes planned and performed all the experiments and drafted the first version of the manuscript. Fabrício Marcos Silva Oliveira contributed to rat immunization and conducted and interpreted the immunochemical reactions. Alexandre Batista Costa Neto and Isabela Aurora Rodrigues contributed to animal manipulation, corneal inoculation, and figure formatting. All authors read and approved the final version of this manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Adriana Oliveira Costa.

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All procedures were conducted under accepted guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals for research and approved by the Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Minas Gerais, protocol number 265/2018.

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de Souza Fernandes, N., Caliari, M.V., Oliveira, F.M.S. et al. Experimental keratitis induced in rat by Acanthamoeba from distinct morphological groups/genotypes: a histological and immunohistochemical evaluation. Parasitol Res 122, 1167–1175 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-023-07817-3

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