Isolation and genotyping of Acanthamoeba strains from water sources of Kermanshah city

Background and Objectives: Acanthamoeba is a free-living amoeba commonly found in the environmental Sources such as soil, water, and dust. This parasite is the causative agent of keratitis and amoebic encephalitis. The Objective of the present study was to investigate the presence of Acanthamoeba genotypes in water sources in Kermanshah city. Materials and Methods: Totally, 60 samples of water were taken from different localities of Kermanshah including agricultural canals, rivers, and swimming pools. Filtration and cultivation were carried out on non nutrient agar medium (NNA), then, PCR analysis and axenic culture were conducted on positive samples. Sequencing was done for 12 PCR products. Genotypes were identified by means of Blast search and homology analysis. The obtained data were analyzed using SPSS software.Findings: Acanthamoeba amoebae were found in 46(76.66%) samples of the water and Amoebae were grown in TYI-S-33 medium. Sequencing of 12 samples proved that Acanthamoeba belonged to T4 (75%), T2 (8.34%), T5 (8.33%) and T11 (8.33%) genotypes. Conclusion: While Acanthamoeba amoebae is found in our surrounding environment and considering, in our study, Acanthamoeba amoebae were isolated with T4, T2, T5 and T11genotypes, Immunodeficiency patients and also people who use contact lenses should be careful.

Keywords:

Acanthamoeba , PCR , Axenic medium