background: geothermal waters could be suitable niches for thermophilic free living amoebae includ­ing naegleria and hartmannella . ardebil province, northwest iran is popular for having many hot springs for recreational and health purposes activity. the present research is the first molecular based investigation regarding the presence of naegleria and hartmannella in the hot springs of ardebil...

Free-living amoebae feed on bacteria, fungi, and algae. However, some microorganisms have evolved to become resistant to these protists. These amoeba-resistant microorganisms include established pathogens, such as Cryptococcus neoformans, Legionella spp., Chlamydophila pneumoniae, Mycobacterium avium, Listeria monocytogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Francisella tularensis, and emerging patho...

The role of cell-mediated immunity in defense against pathogenic free-living amoebae was examined. Both the in vitro macrophage inhibition test and the in vivo delayed hypersensitivity test showed responses to both heterologous and homologous antigens, although homologous systems were the most efficient. It is suggested that exposure to nonpathogenic species of free-living amoebae can stimulate...

BACKGROUND Free-living amoebae (FLA) including Acanthamoeba spp. and Hartmannella spp. are the causative agents of serious corneal infection especially within contact lens wearers. Thus contact lenses and their storage case could be a suitable niche for potentially pathogenic amoebae. The main objective of the present study was to evaluate the contamination of contact lenses to free living amoe...

Some free-living amoebae are a potential threat to human health. The best known species are those of the genus Acanthamoeba Volkonsky, 1931, which cause Acanthamoeba keratitis, granulomatous amoebic encephalitis and other forms of tissue inflammation. The aim of the present study was to search for potential pathogenic genotypes of free-living amoeba in the sand in children’s playgrounds. Our re...

Acanthamoeba and Naegleria species are free-living amoebae (FLA) found in a large variety of natural habitats. The prevalence of such amoebae was determined from dust samples taken from public non-hospital internal environments with good standards of cleanliness from two campuses of the same University in the city of Santos (SP), Brazil, and where young and apparently healthy people circulate. ...

introduction: l.pneumophila has been known as a facultative intracellular bacterium which could proliferate within mammalian macrophages and a wide spectrum of free-living protozoa such as a. castellianii. its pathgenicity for both host cell types could be mostly dependent on the intracellular living conditions. materials and methods: l. pneumophila-infected acanthamoeba were examined by a flou...

Background: Free-living amoebae have various genera that are found in several environmental niches such as soil, freshwater, dust, seawater and hotsprings. Most of Free-living amoebae are normally harmless to humans. However, some ameoba such as Acanthamoeba and also Naegleria fowleri, Balamuthia manderillaris and Sappinia are identified as opportunistic and pathogenic amoebae that can cause ey...

Pathogenic free-living amoebae are common in nature, but few clinical infections by these amoebae have been reported. This has prompted studies of host susceptibility factors in humans. A survey of normal human sera from three New Zealand Health Districts was made; antibodies to pathogenic free-living amoebae were found in all sera, with titers ranging from 1:5 to 1:20 for Naegleria spp. and fr...