Granulomatous amoebic encephalitis caused by <i>Acanthamoeba</i> in a patient with AIDS: a challenging diagnosis

Lau, Hsien Lee; Corvino, Daniela de Lima; Guerra, Francisco M.; Malik, Amer M.; Lichtenberger, Paola N.; Gultekin, Sakir H.; Ritter, Jana M.; Roy, Shantanu; Ali, Ibne Karim M.; Cope, Jennifer R.; Post, M. Judith Donovan; Zamora, Jose Armando Gonzales

doi:10.1080/17843286.2019.1660023

Cited by 14 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…The rate of improvement in GAE is rare due to delay in diagnosis. Therefore, early molecular testing by valid diagnostic centers is recommended for early detection of the disease [17].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Aqueous Extract of Artemisia aucheri Seed on Acanthamoeba In vitro

Pazoki

Raeeni

Ghaffarifar

et al. 2020

JPRI

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Aim: Acanthamoeba cause dangerous diseases in humans such as encephalitis and keratitis as an opportunistic pathogen. Due to the antioxidant, antimicrobial, antifungal, anti-Acanthamoeba and anti-leishmania activities of Artemisia, the aim of this study is investigate the effect of aqueous extract of Artemisia aucheri seed on Acanthamoeba trophozoites and cysts in vitro. Materials and Methods: Acanthamoeba trophozoites and cysts were propagated in appropriate culture medium. Aqueous extract of Artemisia aucheri were prepared at concentrations of 2000, 1000, 500, 250, 125 and 62.5 μg/ml and were added to both protozoa forms (trophozoites and cysts). Then, three techniques including trypan blue, MTT and flowcytometry were used to investigate the effect of this extract on Acanthamoeba trophozoites and cysts. Results: It was found that increasing the time and concentration of aqueous extract of Artemisia aucheri seed significantly reduced the number of live Acanthamoeba trophozoites and cysts (P ≤0.05). At the concentration of 2000 µg/ml the number of live trophozoites was 0% and at the concentration of 62.5 µg/ml the number of live trophozoites was 57.7%. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the aqueous extract of Artemisia aucheri has anti-acanthamoeba activity and seems to have beneficial pharmacological effects on some diseases and complications caused by Acanthamoeba. Further research is needed to determine this issue.

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“…The rate of improvement in GAE is rare due to delay in diagnosis. Therefore, early molecular testing by valid diagnostic centers is recommended for early detection of the disease [17].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Aqueous Extract of Artemisia aucheri Seed on Acanthamoeba In vitro

Pazoki

Raeeni

Ghaffarifar

et al. 2020

JPRI

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Acanthamoeba is a unicellular free-living protist that is found in a wide range of environments and causes a serious eye infection, as well as a fatal infection of the central nervous system (CNS) [ 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 ]. Troublingly, parasites, in general, including waterborne parasites, are responsible for significant morbidity and mortality [ 41 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel Plant-Based Metabolites as Disinfectants against Acanthamoeba castellanii

et al. 2022

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Due to global warming, coupled with global water shortages and the reliance of the public on household water tanks, especially in developing countries, it is anticipated that infections caused by free-living amoebae such as Acanthamoeba will rise. Thus, the development of novel disinfectant(s) which can target pathogenic free-living amoebae effectively is warranted. Herein, we extracted and isolated several plant-based secondary metabolites as novel disinfectants for use against pathogenic Acanthamoeba. The identity of the compounds was confirmed by nuclear magnetic resonance and tested for antiamoebic activities against clinical isolate of A. castellanii, belonging to the T4 genotype. Amoebicidal assays revealed that the compounds tested showed antiamoebic properties. Betulinic acid and betulin exhibited parasite killing of more than 65%. When tested against the cyst stage, betulinic acid, betulin, and vanillic acid inhibited both encystation and excystation processes. Furthermore, the plant-based metabolites significantly inhibited the binding capability of A. castellanii to host cells. Finally, most of the tested compounds displayed minimal cytotoxic activities against human cells and noticeably perturbed amoeba-mediated host cell cytotoxicity. Notably, both alkaloid and betulinic acid showed 20% cytotoxic effects, whereas betulin and lupeol had cytotoxic effects of 24% and 30%, respectively. Overall, our findings indicate that plant-based natural compounds demonstrate anti-Acanthamoebic properties, and they have potential candidates for water disinfectants or contact lens disinfecting solutions, as well as possible therapeutic drugs against Acanthamoeba infections.

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“…One issue that is often less considered is the connection between the environmental interactions of Acanthamoeba with bacterial symbionts and how this translates to synergistic pathogenicity against humans. Co-infections have been observed in all Acanthamoeba pathologies with multiple virus, bacteria and fungi species (Grayson, 2011;Pietrucha-Dilanchian et al, 2012;Scheid and Schwarzenberger, 2012;Guimaraes et al, 2016;Geith et al, 2018;Lau et al, 2019;Raghavan et al, 2019). However, the number of cases of CA and GAE is rare, with the latter proving fatal in ∼90% of cases (Król-Turmiñska and Olender, 2017).…”

Section: Acanthamoebamentioning

confidence: 99%

Paradigms of Protist/Bacteria Symbioses Affecting Human Health: Acanthamoeba species and Trichomonas vaginalis

et al. 2021

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Ever since the publication of the seminal paper by Lynn Margulis in 1967 proposing the theory of the endosymbiotic origin of organelles, the study of the symbiotic relationships between unicellular eukaryotes and prokaryotes has received ever-growing attention by microbiologists and evolutionists alike. While the evolutionary significance of the endosymbiotic associations within protists has emerged and is intensively studied, the impact of these relationships on human health has been seldom taken into account. Microbial endosymbioses involving human eukaryotic pathogens are not common, and the sexually transmitted obligate parasite Trichomonas vaginalis and the free-living opportunistic pathogen Acanthamoeba represent two unique cases in this regard, to date. The reasons of this peculiarity for T. vaginalis and Acanthamoeba may be due to their lifestyles, characterized by bacteria-rich environments. However, this characteristic does not fully explain the reason why no bacterial endosymbiont has yet been detected in unicellular eukaryotic human pathogens other than in T. vaginalis and Acanthamoeba, albeit sparse and poorly investigated examples of morphological identification of bacteria-like microorganisms associated with Giardia and Entamoeba were reported in the past. In this review article we will present the body of experimental evidences revealing the profound effects of these examples of protist/bacteria symbiosis on the pathogenesis of the microbial species involved, and ultimately their impact on human health.

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Granulomatous amoebic encephalitis caused by Acanthamoeba in a patient with AIDS: a challenging diagnosis

Cited by 14 publications

References 12 publications

The Effect of Aqueous Extract of Artemisia aucheri Seed on Acanthamoeba In vitro

The Effect of Aqueous Extract of Artemisia aucheri Seed on Acanthamoeba In vitro

Novel Plant-Based Metabolites as Disinfectants against Acanthamoeba castellanii

Paradigms of Protist/Bacteria Symbioses Affecting Human Health: Acanthamoeba species and Trichomonas vaginalis

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