Lethal encounters: The evolving spectrum of amoebic meningoencephalitis

Gompf, Sandra; García, Cristina Arguedas

doi:10.1016/j.idcr.2019.e00524

Cited by 36 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 48 publications

(103 reference statements)

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“…Amoebic infections of the central nervous system (CNS) are very rare, and usually fatal. Two main forms of CNS infection caused by free‐living amoebae (FLA) are recognized: (i) primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) due to Naegleria fowleri ; (ii) granulomatous amoebic meningoencephalitis caused by Acantamoeba spp., Balamuthia mandrillaris , and the recently recognized Sappinia pedata …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Two main forms of CNS infection caused by free-living amoebae (FLA) are recognized: (i) primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) due to Naegleria fowleri; (ii) granulomatous amoebic meningoencephalitis caused by Acantamoeba spp., Balamuthia mandrillaris, and the recently recognized Sappinia pedata. [1][2][3] To report the fatal outcome of two patients with FLA infections, treated with combination regimens for bacterial meningoencephalitis. In both cases a brain biopsy was performed, the histology confirmed granulomatous amoebic encephalitis with the presence of amoebic trophozoites and occasional cysts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fatal granulomatous amoebic encephalitis due to free‐living amoebae in two boys in two different hospitals in Lima, Perú

Cabello‐Vílchez

Chura‐Araujo²,

Lima³

et al. 2019

Neuropathology

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Granulomatous amoebic encephalitis caused by free‐living amoebae is a rare condition that is difficult to diagnose and hard to treat, generally being fatal. Anti‐amoebic treatment is often delayed because clinical signs and symptoms may hide the probable causing agent misleading the appropriate diagnostic test. There are four genera of free‐living amoeba associated with human infection, Naegleria, Acanthamoeba sp., Balamuthia and Sappinia. Two boys were admitted with diagnosis of acute encephalitis. The history of having been in contact with swimming pools and rivers, supports the suspicion of an infection due to free‐living amoebae. In both cases a brain biopsy was done, the histology confirmed granulomatous amoebic encephalitis with the presence of amoebic trophozoites.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fatal granulomatous amoebic encephalitis due to free‐living amoebae in two boys in two different hospitals in Lima, Perú

Cabello‐Vílchez

Chura‐Araujo²,

Lima³

et al. 2019

Neuropathology

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“…In Western Australia, the Legionellosis rate varied between 1.5 and 4.5 cases per 100,00 population (2014-2018), with the greatest number of cases in persons aged over 55 years [104]. FLA are now regarded as emerging pathogens of public health importance (PAM) [105]. A total of 19 water-related PAM cases were recorded in Australia between 1960 and 1980 [95], with 111 cases of the same infection being recorded in the United States between 1962 and 2008 [106].…”

Section: Public Health Impact Of Opportunistic Premise Plumbing Pathomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The part played by FLA in amplifying the number and virulence of OPPPs in engineered water systems is now widely acknowledged [13,83], with Legionella and Mycobacterium showing a greater ability to proliferate in this manner [76]. The monitoring of amoebae in drinking water systems as part of a water quality monitoring program has also been advanced as an effective measure [44,105].…”

Section: Presence Of Flamentioning

confidence: 99%

Health Risks Associated with the Use of Water Mist Systems as a Cooling Intervention in Public Places in the Pilbara Region of Western Australia

Masaka¹,

Reed²,

Ooosthuizen³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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The exposure of people to opportunistic premise plumbing pathogens (OPPPs) such as Legionella, Mycobacterium and Pseudomonas in aerosolised water has been linked to opportunistic infections. Water mist systems (WMS) that are used to cool public places by flash evaporation of tiny water aerosols are gaining prominence in hot climatic regions of Australia. Their potential to be colonised by OPPPs has not been adequately studied. The public health impact of OPPPs is significant, as Legionella caused 63% of waterborne disease case hospitalisations in the United States associated with drinking water systems during 2013–2014, and the incidence of Mycobacterium avium over the same period was 647 cases per 100,000. As WMS are part of premise plumbing, they have structural characteristics that can promote biofilm formation, as well as the presence of free-living amoebae (FLA), low residual disinfection levels, elevated water temperatures and oligotrophic conditions, all of which can promote OPPP inhabitancy. This review highlights the potential public health risks of using WMS as a cooling intervention in public places and advocates for their regulation in places of public assembly and entertainment.

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“…Balamuthia mandrillaris is a ubiquitous soil-dwelling amoeba that is the causative agent of GAE [1][2][3][4] . In common with the other two major pathogenic free-living amoebas (FLAs), Naegleria fowleri and Acanthamoeba castellanii, B. mandrillaris infections, though uncommon, have > 90% case fatality rate 5 . In the United States, 109 Balamuthia cases in both immunocompetent and immunocompromised individuals have been reported with at least twice that many worldwide, but these rates of GAE are likely to be underestimated due to historically poor diagnosis 6 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The transcriptome of Balamuthia mandrillaris trophozoites for structure-based drug design

Phan

Rice

Craig

et al. 2020

Preprint

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AbstractBalamuthia mandrillaris, a pathogenic free-living amoeba (FLA), causes cutaneous skin lesions as well as the brain-eating disease: Balamuthia granulomatous amoebic encephalitis (GAE). These diseases, and diseases caused by other pathogenic FLA, Naegleria fowleri or Acanthamoeba species, are minimally studied from a drug discovery perspective; few targets have been validated or characterized at the molecular level, and little is known about the biochemical pathways necessary for parasite survival. Chemotherapies for CNS disease caused by B. mandrillaris require vast improvement. Current therapeutics are limited to a small number of drugs that were previously discovered in the last century through in vitro testing or identified after use in the small pool of surviving reports.Using our recently published methodology to identify potentially useful therapeutics, we screened a collection of 85 compounds that have previously been reported to have antiparasitic activity. We identified 59 compounds that impacted growth at concentrations below 220 μM. Since there is no fully annotated genome or proteome, we used RNA-Seq to reconstruct the transcriptome of B. mandrillaris and locate the coding sequences of the specific genes potentially targeted by the compounds identified to inhibit trophozoite growth. We determined the sequence of 17 of these target genes and obtained expression clones for 15 that we validated by direct sequencing.

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Lethal encounters: The evolving spectrum of amoebic meningoencephalitis

Cited by 36 publications

References 48 publications

Fatal granulomatous amoebic encephalitis due to free‐living amoebae in two boys in two different hospitals in Lima, Perú

Fatal granulomatous amoebic encephalitis due to free‐living amoebae in two boys in two different hospitals in Lima, Perú

Health Risks Associated with the Use of Water Mist Systems as a Cooling Intervention in Public Places in the Pilbara Region of Western Australia

The transcriptome of Balamuthia mandrillaris trophozoites for structure-based drug design

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