title: Genotyping of clinical isolates of Acanthamoeba genus in Venezuela.
abstract: Free-living amoebae of Acanthamoeba genus are opportunistic pathogens distributed worldwide. Strains included in this genus are causative agents of a fatal encephalitis and a sight-threating keratitis in humans and other animals. In this study, 550 clinical samples which were collected between 1984 and 2014 from different patients with suspected infections due to Acanthamoeba were initially screened for the presence of this amoebic genus at the Laboratorio de Amibiasis-Escuela de Bioanálisis at the Universidad Central de Venezuela. Samples were cultured in 2% Non-Nutrient agar plates seeded with a layer of heat killed Escherichia coli. From the 550 clinical samples included in this study, 18 of them were positive for Acanthamoeba genus after culture identification. Moreover, positive samples were confirmed after amplification of the Diagnostic Fragment 3 (DF3) of the Acanthamoeba18S rDNA genus and sequencing was carried out in order to genotype the isolated strains of Acanthamoeba. Furthermore, the pathogenic potential of the strains was checked by performing thermotolerance and osmotolerance assays. Sequencing of the DF3 region resulted in the identification of genotype T4 in all the isolated strains. Moreover, most isolates were thermotolerant or both thermotolerant and osmotolerant and thus were classified as potentially pathogenic strains. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the molecular characterization at the genotype level of Acanthamoeba strains in Venezuela.
authors: Carolina
authors: C
authors: Wagner
authors: María
authors: M
authors: Reyes-Batlle
authors: María Alejandra Vethencourt
authors: MA
authors: Ysea
authors: Mónica V Galindo
authors: MV
authors: Pérez
authors: Carmen Guzmán
authors: CG
authors: de Rondón
authors: Anaibeth J Nessi
authors: AJ
authors: Paduani
authors: Angelyseb Dorta
authors: AD
authors: Pérez
authors: Atteneri
authors: A
authors: López-Arencibia
authors: Ines
authors: I
authors: Sifaoui
authors: María Virginia Pérez
authors: MV
authors: de Galindo
authors: Eva Pérez
authors: EP
authors: de Suárez
authors: Enrique
authors: E
authors: Martínez-Carretero
authors: Basilio
authors: B
authors: Valladares
authors: José E
authors: JE
authors: Piñero
authors: Jacob
authors: J
authors: Lorenzo-Morales
mesh_terms: D000048:Acanthamoeba / Q000235:genetics*; D015823:Acanthamoeba Keratitis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D010802:Phylogeny; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S / Q000235:genetics; D014687:Venezuela / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S