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

Cabello‐Vílchez, Alfonso Martín; Chura‐Araujo, Miguel A.; Lima, William E. Anicama; Vela, César; Asencio, Angélica Y.; García, Hugo; Garaycochea, María del Carmen; Náquira, César; Rojas, Elvis; Martínez, Dalila

doi:10.1111/neup.12617

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Cope et al [ 119 ] discussed the epidemiology issue in the United States and the clinical characteristics of BAE from 1974–2016 and hypothesized that the hot and dry weather of the southwest side of the country would be the type of environment in which B. mandrillaris thrives. This agrees with BAE cases reported in Peru [ 120 ], which emphasize the increase in temperature as a favorable predisposing factor to contracting the infection. There are two remarkable hypotheses about the factors related to B. mandrillaris infections: (1) Hispanic ethnic groups comprise a higher percentage of the population in the southwestern United States, probably because of the climate of that region [ 119 ], and (2) they have frequent contact with the soil due to work activities such as farming and gardening [ 121 ].…”

Section: Balamuthia Mandrillarissupporting

confidence: 91%

Distribution and Current State of Molecular Genetic Characterization in Pathogenic Free-Living Amoebae

et al. 2022

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Free-living amoebae (FLA) are protozoa widely distributed in the environment, found in a great diversity of terrestrial biomes. Some genera of FLA are linked to human infections. The genus Acanthamoeba is currently classified into 23 genotypes (T1-T23), and of these some (T1, T2, T4, T5, T10, T12, and T18) are known to be capable of causing granulomatous amoebic encephalitis (GAE) mainly in immunocompromised patients while other genotypes (T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, T10, T11, T12, and T15) cause Acanthamoeba keratitis mainly in otherwise healthy patients. Meanwhile, Naegleria fowleri is the causative agent of an acute infection called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), while Balamuthia mandrillaris, like some Acanthamoeba genotypes, causes GAE, differing from the latter in the description of numerous cases in patients immunocompetent. Finally, other FLA related to the pathologies mentioned above have been reported; Sappinia sp. is responsible for one case of amoebic encephalitis; Vermamoeba vermiformis has been found in cases of ocular damage, and its extraordinary capacity as endocytobiont for microorganisms of public health importance such as Legionella pneumophila, Bacillus anthracis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, among others. This review addressed issues related to epidemiology, updating their geographic distribution and cases reported in recent years for pathogenic FLA.

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Section: Balamuthia Mandrillarissupporting

confidence: 91%

Distribution and Current State of Molecular Genetic Characterization in Pathogenic Free-Living Amoebae

et al. 2022

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“…This idea derives from the results obtained from the study where most of those infected belong to Hispanic ethnic groups, comprising a higher percentage of the population in the southwestern United States. Also, this agrees with BAE cases reported in Peru [117], which emphasizes the increase in temperature as a favorable predisposing factor to contracting the infection. Another notable pathogen characteristic is the difficulty of being detected due to its resemblance to histiocytes under the microscope and its unique culture requirements.…”

Section: Balamuthia Mandrillarissupporting

confidence: 91%

Distribution and Current State of Molecular Genetic Characterization in Pathogenic Free-Living Amoebae

Otero-Ruiz¹,

Gonzalez-Zuñiga²,

Rodriguez-Anaya³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Free-living amoebae (FLA) are protozoa widely distributed in the environment, found in a great diversity of terrestrial biomes. However, few genera of FLA are linked to human infections. Within these genera, Acanthamoeba spp., classified by genotypes (T1-T23), being T1, T2, T4, T5, T10, T12, and T18 as capable of causing granulomatous amoebic encephalitis (GAE) in immunocompromised patients mostly and Acanthamoeba keratitis related to genotypes T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, T10, T11, T12 and T15 in apparently healthy patients. Meanwhile, Naegleria fowleri is the causative agent of an acute infection called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), while Balamuthia mandrillaris, like some Acanthamoeba genotypes, causes GAE, differing from the latter in the description of numerous cases in patients immunocompetent. Finally, other FLA related to the pathologies mentioned above have been reported; Sappinia pedata is responsible for one case of amoebic encephalitis; Vermamoeba vermiformis has been found in cases of ocular damage, and its extraordinary capacity as endocytobiont for microorganisms of public health importance such as Legionella pneumophila, Bacillus anthracis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, among others. In this review, issues related to the epidemiology of each one are addressed, updating their geographic distribution and cases reported in recent years for pathogenic FLA.

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“…Among other free-living amoebae, that can cause life-threatening diseases are species of Acanthamoeba, Balamuthia and Sappinia. These amoebae cause rare granulomatous amoebic encephalitis, a deadly disease with symptoms similar to PAM but that progress more slowly and with additional manifestations [8,9]. Nevertheless, the issues with battling these diseases, such as difficulty making a diagnosis, are the same.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptive iron utilization compensates for the lack of an inducible uptake system in Naegleria fowleri and represents a potential target for therapeutic intervention

et al. 2020

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Naegleria fowleri is a single-cell organism living in warm freshwater that can become a deadly human pathogen known as a brain-eating amoeba. The condition caused by N. fowleri, primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, is usually a fatal infection of the brain with rapid and severe onset. Iron is a common element on earth and a crucial cofactor for all living organisms. However, its bioavailable form can be scarce in certain niches, where it becomes a factor that limits growth. To obtain iron, many pathogens use different machineries to exploit an iron-withholding strategy that has evolved in mammals and is important to host-parasite interactions. The present study demonstrates the importance of iron in the biology of N. fowleri and explores the plausibility of exploiting iron as a potential target for therapeutic intervention. We used different biochemical and analytical methods to explore the effect of decreased iron availability on the cellular processes of the amoeba. We show that, under iron starvation, nonessential, iron-dependent, mostly cytosolic pathways in N. fowleri are downregulated, while the metal is utilized in the mitochondria to maintain vital respiratory processes. Surprisingly, N. fowleri fails to respond to acute shortages of iron by inducing the reductive iron uptake system that seems to be the main iron-obtaining strategy of the parasite. Our findings suggest that iron restriction may be used to slow the progression of infection, which may make the difference between life and death for patients.

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

Cited by 7 publications

References 12 publications

Distribution and Current State of Molecular Genetic Characterization in Pathogenic Free-Living Amoebae

Distribution and Current State of Molecular Genetic Characterization in Pathogenic Free-Living Amoebae

Distribution and Current State of Molecular Genetic Characterization in Pathogenic Free-Living Amoebae

Adaptive iron utilization compensates for the lack of an inducible uptake system in Naegleria fowleri and represents a potential target for therapeutic intervention

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