Life Cycle
Acanthamoeba spp. and Balamuthia mandrillaris are opportunistic free-living amoebae capable of causing granulomatous amoebic encephalitis (GAE) in individuals with compromised immune systems.
- Acanthamoeba spp. have been found in soil; fresh, brackish, and sea water; sewage; swimming pools; contact lens equipment; medicinal pools; dental treatment units; dialysis machines; heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems; mammalian cell cultures; vegetables; human nostrils and throats; and human and animal brain, skin, and lung tissues.
- B. mandrillaris however, has not been isolated from the environment but has been isolated from autopsy specimens of infected humans and animals.
Unlike N. fowleri, Acanthamoeba and Balamuthia have only two stages, cysts and trophozoites, in their life cycle. No flagellated stage exists as part of the life cycle. The trophozoites replicate by mitosis (nuclear membrane does not remain intact) . The trophozoites are the infective forms and are believed to gain entry into the body through the lower respiratory tract, ulcerated or broken skin and invade the central nervous system by hematogenous dissemination . Acanthamoeba spp. and Balamuthia mandrillaris cysts and trophozoites are found in tissue.
Read more about this topic: Free-living Amoebozoa Infection
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