Clinical Microbiology Newsletter
Volume 30, Issue 20 , Pages 151-158 , 15 October 2008

Opportunistic Free-living Amebae, Part I1

  • G.S. Visvesvara, Ph.D.

      Affiliations

    • Division of Parasitic Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
    • Corresponding Author InformationMailing Address: Govinda S. Visvesvara, Ph.D., Division of Parasitic Diseases, Chamblee Campus, Bldg. 109, M.S.-F-36, 4770 Buford Highway NE, Atlanta, GA 30341-3724. Tel.: 770-488-4417. Fax: 770-488-4253
  • ,
  • F.L. Schuster, Ph.D.

      Affiliations

    • Viral and Rickettsial Disease Laboratory, California Department of Public Health, Richmond, California

References 

  1. Visvesvara GS , Moura H , Schuster FL . Pathogenic and opportunistic free-living amoebae: Acanthamoeba spp., Balamuthia mandrillaris, Naegleria fowleri, and Sappinia diploidea . FEMS Immunol. Microbiol. . 2007;50:1–26
  2. Visvesvara GS . Pathogenic and opportunistic free-living amebae . In:  Murray PR , et al. editor. Manual of clinical microbiology . 9th ed.. Washington, DC: ASM press; 2007;p. 2082–2091
  3. Martinez AJ , Visvesvara GS . Free-living amphizoic and opportunistic amebas . Brain Pathol. . 1997;7:583–598
  4. Schuster FL , Visvesvara GS . Free-living amoebae as opportunistic and nonopportunistic pathogens of humans and animals . Int. J. Parasitol. . 2004;34:1001–1027
  5. Visvesvara GS , Maguire JH . Pathogenic and opportunistic free-living amebas: Acanthamoeba spp., Balamuthia mandrillaris, Naegleria fowleri, and Sappinia diploidea . In:  Guerrant RL ,  Walker DH ,  Weller PF editor. Tropical infectious diseases. Principles, pathogens, & practice . vol. 2: Philadelphia, PA: Churchill Livingstone; 2006;p. 1114–1125
  6. Martinez AJ . Free-living amebas: natural history, prevention, diagnosis, pathology, and treatment of disease . Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, Inc.; 1985;
  7. Page FC . A new key to freshwater and soil gymnamoebae . Ambleside, Cumbria, United Kingdom: Freshwater Biological Association; 1988;
  8. Adl SM , et al.   The new higher-level classification of eukaryotes with emphasis on the taxonomy of protists . J. Eukaryot. Microbiol. . 2005;52:399–451
  9. Page FC . Re-definition of the genus Acanthamoeba with descriptions of three species . J. Protozool. . 1967;14:709–724
  10. Culbertson CG , Smith JW , Minner JR . Acanthamoeba: observations on animal pathogenicity . Science . 1958;127:1506
  11. Greub G , Raoult D . Microorganisms resistant to free-living amoebae . Clin. Microbiol. Rev. . 2004;17:413–433
  12. Berger P , et al.   Ameba-associated microorganisms and diagnosis of nosocomial pneumonia . Emerg. Infect. Dis. . 2006;12:248–255
  13. Fritsche TR , et al.   Phylogenetic diversity among geographically dispersed Chlamydiales endosymbionts from clinical and environmental isolates of Acanthamoeba spp . Appl. Environ. Microbiol. . 2000;66:613–619
  14. Newsome AL , et al.   Isolation of an amoeba naturally harboring a distinctive Legionella species . Appl. Environ. Microbiol. . 1998;64:1688–1693
  15. Cirillo JD , et al.   Interaction of Mycobacterium avium with environmental amoebae enhances virulence . Infect. Immun. . 1997;65:3759–3767
  16. Rowbotham TJ . Isolation of Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 from human feces with use of amebic cultures . Clin. Infect. Dis. . 1998;26:502–503
  17. La Scola B , et al.   Isolation of Legionella anisa using an amoebic coculture procedure . J. Clin. Microbiol. . 2001;39:365–366
  18. Adékambi T , et al.   Amoebal coculture of “Mycobacterium massiliense” sp. nov. from the sputum of a patient with hemoptoic pneumonia . J. Clin. Microbiol. . 2004;42:5493–5501
  19. Raoult D , et al.   The 1.2 megabase genome sequence of mimivirus . Science . 2004;306:1344–1350
  20. Schuster FL . Cultivation of pathogenic and opportunistic free-living amebas . Clin. Microbiol. Rev. . 2002;15:342–354
  21. Barete S , et al.   Fatal disseminated Acanthamoeba lenticulata infection in a heart transplant patient . Emerg. Infect. Dis. . 2007;13:736–738
  22. Shirwadkar CG , et al.   Acanthamoeba encephalitis in patient with systemic lupus, India Emerg . Infect. Dis. . 2006;12:984–986
  23. Visvesvara GS , et al.   In vitro culture, serologic and molecular analysis of Acanthamoeba isolated from the liver of a keel-billed toucan (Ramphastos sulfuratus) . Vet. Parasitol. . 2007;143:74–78
  24. Petry F , et al.   Early diagnosis of Acanthamoeba infection during routine cytological examination of cerebrospinal fluid . J. Clin. Microbiol. . 2006;44:1903–1904
  25. Bloch KC , Schuster FL . Inability to make a premortem diagnosis of Acanthamoeba species infection in a patient with fatal granulomatous amebic encephalitis . J. Clin. Microbiol. . 2005;43:3003–3006
  26. Guarner J , et al.   Immunohistochemical diagnosis and histopathologic spectrum of amebic meningoencephalitis . Mod. Pathol. . 2007;20:1230–1237
  27. Yagi S , Schuster FL , Visvesvara GS . Demonstration of Balamuthia and Acanthamoeba mitochondrial DNA in sectioned archival brain and other tissues by the polymerase chain reaction . Parasitol. Res. . 2007;102:211–217
  28. Schuster FL , et al.   Detection of antibodies against free-living amoebae Balamuthia mandrillaris and Acanthamoeba species in a population of patients with encephalitis . Clin. Infect. Dis. . 2006;42:1260–1265
  29. Chappell CI , et al.   Standardized method of measuring Acanthamoeba antibodies in sera from healthy subjects . Clin. Diagn. Lab. Immunol. . 2001;8:724–730
  30. Marciano-Cabral F , Cabral G . Acanthamoeba spp. as agents of disease in humans . Clin. Microbiol. Rev. . 2003;16:273–307
  31. Pettit DA , et al.   In vitro destruction of nerve cell cultures by Acanthamoeba spp.: a transmission and scanning electron microscopy study . J. Parasitol. . 1996;82:769–777
  32. Omaña-Molina M , et al.   Induction of morphological and electrophysiological changes in hamster cornea after in vitro interaction with trophozoites of Acanthamoeba spp . Infect. Immun. . 2004;72:3245–3251
  33. Khan NA . Acanthamoeba: biology and increasing importance in human health . FEMS Microbiol. Rev. . 2006;30:564–595
  34. Alsam S , et al.   Extracellular proteases of Acanthamoeba castellanii (encephalitis isolate belonging to T1 genotype) contribute to increased permeability in an in vitro model of human blood-brain barrier . J. Infect. . 2005;51:150–156
  35. Sissons J , et al.   Identification and properties of proteases from an Acanthamoeba isolate capable of producing granulomatous encephalitis . BMC Microbiol. . 2006;6:42
  36. Blaschitz M , et al.   Detection of serine proteinase gene in Acanthamoeba genotype T6 (Amoebozoa: Lobosea) . Exp. Parasitol. . 2006;114:26–33
  37. Clarke DW , Niederkorn JY . The pathophysiology of Acanthamoeba keratitis . Trends Parasitol. . 2006;22:175–180
  38. Garate M , et al.   In vitro pathogenicity of Acanthamoeba is associated with the expression of the mannose-binding protein . Investig. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. . 2006;47:1056–1062
  39. Garate M , et al.   Oral immunization with Acanthamoeba castellanii mannose-binding protein ameliorates amoebic keratitis . Infect. Immun. . 2006;74:7032–7034
  40. Sharma S , et al.   Acanthamoeba keratitis in non-contact lens wearers in India. DNA typing-based validation and a simple detection assay . Arch. Ophthalmol. . 2004;122:1430–1434
  41. Jones DB , Visvesvara GS , Robinson NM . Acanthamoeba polyphaga keratitis and Acanthamoeba uveitis associated with fatal meningoencephalitis . Trans. Ophthalmol. Soc. U.K. . 1975;95:221–232
  42. Seal DV . Acanthamoeba keratitis update—incidence, molecular epidemiology and new drugs for treatment . Eye . 2003;17:893–905
  43. Visvesvara GS , Stehr-Green JK . Epidemiology of free-living ameba infection . J. Protozool. . 1990;37:25S–33S
  44. Stehr-Green JK , Bailey TM , Visvesvara GS . The epidemiology of Acanthamoeba keratitis in the United States . Am. J. Ophthalmol. . 1989;107:331–336
  45. Joslin CE , et al.   Epidemiological characteristics of a Chicago-area Acanth amoeba keratitis . Am. J. Ophthalmol. . 2006;142:212–217
  46. Braden, C. et al. 2007. Multistate outbreak of Acanthamoeba keratitis associated with a contact lens solution. Poster presented at the 44th Annual Meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), October 4–7, 2007, San Diego, CA.
  47. Parmar DN , et al.   Tandem scanning confocal corneal microscopy in the diagnosis of suspected Acanthamoeba keratitis . Ophthalmology . 2006;113:538–547
  48. Booton GC , et al.   Identification and distribution of Acanthamoeba species genotypes associated with nonkeratitis infections . J. Clin. Microbiol. . 2005;43:1689–1693
  49. Köshler M , et al.   ITS1 sequence variabilities correlate with 18S rDNA sequence types in the genus Acanthamoeba (Protozoa: Amoebozoa) . Parasitol. Res. . 2006;98:86–93
  50. Rivière D , et al.   Development of a real-time PCR assay for quantification of Acanthamoeba trophozoites and cysts . J. Microbiol. Methods . 2006;64:78–83
  51. Qvarnstrom Y , et al.   A multiplex real-time PCR assay for simultaneous detection of Acanthamoeba spp., Balamuthia mandrillaris and Naegleria fowleri . J. Clin. Microbiol. . 2006;44:3589–3595
  52. Walia R , et al.   A case of successful treatment of cutaneous Acanthamoeba infection in a lung transplant recipient . Transplant Infect. Dis. . 2007;9:51–54
  53. Schuster FL , Guglielmo BJ , Visvesvara GS . In-vitro activity of miltefosine and voriconazole on clinical isolates of free-living amebas Balamuthia mandrillaris, Acanthamoeba spp., and Naegleria fowleri . J. Eukaryot. Microbiol. . 2006;53:121–126
  54. Walochnik J , et al.   Cytotoxic activities of alkylphosphocholines against clinical isolates of Acanthamoeba spp . Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. . 2002;46:695–701
  55. Walochnik J , et al.   Granulomatous amoebic encephalitis caused by Acanthamoeba amoebae of genotype T2 in a human immunodeficiency virus-negative patient . J. Clin Microbiol. . 2008;46:338–340
  56. Seijo Martinez M , et al.   Granulomatous amebic encephalitis in a patient with AIDS: isolation of Acanthamoeba sp. group II from brain tissue and successful treatment with sulfadiazine and fluconazole . J. Clin. Microbiol. . 2000;38:3892–3895
  57. Visvesvara GS , et al.   Leptomyxid ameba, a new agent of amebic meningoencephalitis in humans and animals . J. Clin. Microbiol. . 1990;28:2750–2756
  58. Visvesvara GS , Schuster FL , Martinez AJ . Balamuthia mandrillaris, N. G., N. Sp., agent of amebic meningoencephalitis in humans and other animals . J. Eukaryot. Microbiol. . 1993;40:504–514
  59. Rideout BA , et al.   Fatal infections with Balamuthia mandrillaris (a free-living amoeba) in gorillas and other old world primates . Vet. Pathol. . 1997;34:15–22

 Editor's Note: Part II of this article will be published in the November 1, 2008 issue of CMN (Vol. 30, No. 21).

PII: S0196-4399(08)00051-2

doi: 10.1016/j.clinmicnews.2008.09.004

Clinical Microbiology Newsletter
Volume 30, Issue 20 , Pages 151-158 , 15 October 2008