Isolation of Acanthamoeba spp. from different water sources in Isfahan, central Iran, 2014

Abstract

Acanthamoeba spp. are free-living amoeba found in a wide variety of natural habitats. The high percentage of the presence of Acanthamoeba in different environmental sources represents a sanitary risk for public health, especially immunocompromised patients and contact lens wearers. Acanthamoeba can cause granulomatous amoebic encephalitis, otitis, lung lesions, and skin infections in individuals with immune deficiencies. In the present study, the status of contamination of water sources in Isfahan, central Iran is analyzed through parasitological method. Totally 93 samples were utilized consisting of 59 samples of tap water and 34 samples of environmental water collected from Isfahan in May and June 2014. After filtering, cultivation was done in non-nutrient agar medium, and then the cultured media were kept at 25-30°C. The samples were analyzed based on the morphological criteria. Acanthamoeba spp. were found in 25 (73.53 %) out of 34 environmental water samples and 17 (28.8 %) out of 59 tap water. Generally, Acanthamoeba spp. were found in 42 (45.16 %) of the samples. The results of the present study showed that the water contamination with Acanthamoeba spp. in different regions of Isfahan can be a potential infection source for at high risk people. It could be suggested that public education and precaution are quiet necessary.

Occurrence of Acanthamoeba in hospitals: a literature review

“…Bagheri 18 performed a study at Royal Hobart Hospital in Tasmania to evaluate the possibility of FLA colonization of the respiratory and urinary tract of intensive care patients.…”

“…Currently, this association of multiplying endosymbionts is often reported and known to cause extremely severe infections, such as pneumonia or even tuberculosis. 18 Acanthamoeba spp. ecology in the hospital environment Due to the opportunistic nature of Acanthamoeba and its possible role as a reservoir for human pathogens, monitoring the presence of this protozoan in settings such as hospitals and health facilities, where people are more debilitated and susceptible to infection, is vital.…”

Amebicidal effects of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum‐graecum) against Acanthamoeba cysts

“…The trophozoite form lives on various bacteria and transforms into the cyst form when environmental conditions become unfavorable (Saygı & Polat, ; Sharma et al., ). Acanthamoeba species settle in human body and causes diseases such as granulomatous amebic encephalitis (GAE), cutaneous acanthamebiasis, and acanthamoeba keratitis (Mohammadi Manesh, Niyyati, Yousefi, & Eskandarian, ). Acanthamoeba culbertsoni, A. Castellanii , and A. Rhysoides species have been often identified in cases of granulomatous amebic encephalitis (GAE) (Saygı & Polat, ; Sharma et al., ).…”

“…In patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), infection can cause diseases such as chronic sinusitis, otitis, cutaneous lesions, sinus lesions, and skin ulcers due to the spread of the infection to various organs (Mohammadi & Niyyati, ; Neelam & Niederkorn, ; Niyyati, Lorenzo‐Morales, Rezaie, & Rahimi, ). Acanthamoeba infection is resistant against numerous antimicrobial agents that can be tolerated in the corneal tissue and ocular surface (Hughes, Andrew, & Kilvington, ; Marciano‐Cabral & Cabral, ; Polat et al., ; Tepe, Malatyali, Degerli, & Berk, ).…”

“…Acanthamoeba infection is resistant against numerous antimicrobial agents that can be tolerated in the corneal tissue and ocular surface (Hughes, Andrew, & Kilvington, ; Marciano‐Cabral & Cabral, ; Polat et al., ; Tepe, Malatyali, Degerli, & Berk, ). It is difficult to treat and eradicate of Acanthamoeba in ophthalmic infections (Mohammadi & Niyyati, ; Neelam & Niederkorn, ). Although there are many options for the treatment of this infection, these are difficult treatment methods with limited effectiveness (Marciano‐Cabral & Cabral, ; Tepe et al., ).…”