Abstract
Free-living amoeba of the genus Acanthamoeba can eventually act as parasites, causing infections in humans. Some physiological characteristics of Acanthamoeba have been related to the grade of pathogenicity, allowing inferences about the pathogenic potential. The main goal of this study was to characterize isolates of Acanthamoeba obtained in Brazil and evaluate properties associated with their pathogenicity. A total of 39 isolates obtained from keratitis cases (n = 16) and environmental sources (n = 23) were classified into morphological groups and genotyped by sequencing the 18S rDNA fragments ASA.S1 and GTSA.B1. Samples were also tested regarding their thermo-tolerance, osmo-tolerance, and cytopathogenicity in MDCK cells. Isolates were identified and classified as follows: group I (T17, T18); group II (T1, T3, T4, T11); and group III (T5, T15), with the predominance of genotype T4 (22/39). Clinical isolates were genotyped as T3 (1/16), T4 (14/16) and T5 (1/16). The majority of isolates (38/39) were able to grow at 37 °C, but tolerance to 40 °C was more frequent among environmental samples. The tolerance to 1 M mannitol was infrequent (4/39), with three of these corresponding to clinical samples. The variable ability to cause cytopathic effects was observed among isolates of distinct genotypes and origins. This study identified, for the first time, T1, T15, and T18 in Brazil. It also indicated a weak association between the clinical origin of the isolates and tolerance to high temperatures, high osmolarity, and cytopathogenicity, demonstrating that some in vitro parameters do not necessarily reflect a higher propensity of Acanthamoeba to cause a disease.
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30 April 2018
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Acknowledgements
We also thank the medical staff from Ophthalmology Sector-HUCAM for providing the corneal scrapings from the AK patients used in this study, the LHMI (Laboratório de Histologia Molecular e Imunohistoquímica), and the NGACB (Núcleo de Pesquisa Aplicada a Conservação da Biodiversidade) of Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo for the technical support. ACL has a postdoctoral scholarship from Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Inovação do Espírito Santo - FAPES/Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES (grant no. 68854315/14); and COP has a doctoral scholarship from FAPES (grant n°. 62272462/13). This study received financial support from CAPES (grant no. AUXPE 1526/2011), entity of the Brazilian government for qualification of human resources, financial aid for educational or research project; Fundação Estadual de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Espírito Santo (FAPES) grant n° 45518378/09 and 68854315/14; and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (APQ-01100- 14 - Ph.D Adriana Oliveira Costa).
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Possamai, C.O., Loss, A.C., Costa, A.O. et al. Acanthamoeba of three morphological groups and distinct genotypes exhibit variable and weakly inter-related physiological properties. Parasitol Res 117, 1389–1400 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-018-5824-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-018-5824-8