424616

Systemic Histopathological and Immunological Changes in the Liver of Immunosuppressed Mice Infected with Acanthamoeba polyphaga Isolated from Contaminated Contact Lenses

Article

Last updated: 04 May 2025

Subjects

-

Tags

Zoology and Entomology

Abstract

Disseminated Acanthamoebiasis poses a grave threat that can potentially leads to fatal outcomes in immunosuppressed individuals. This study investigates the immunological and histopathological effects in immunosuppressed animals after a systemic infection by A. polyphaga strain isolated from contaminated contact lenses. Fifty male Swiss albino mice were divided into three groups: immunosuppressed control (CS), immunosuppressed A. polyphaga infected (AS), and negative controls (C). The CS and AS groups were sacrificed at 2, 7, and 15 days post-infection. The results showed that the AS mice displayed a range of clinical signs including emaciation, changes in coat color, ulcerations, enlargement of the testicular region, circular moving, bilateral eye lesions, diminished mobility, and alterations in posture. There was a highly significant increase in the cytokines IL-1β, TNF-α, and IL-10 levels, especially at the onset of infection in AS groups. The infected liver tissues demonstrated an inflammatory response, characterized by an intercellular distribution of parasite stages, multiple focal areas of inflammatory cell infiltration, diffuse vacuolar degeneration with sporadic hepatocyte necrosis, dilatation of blood sinusoids, and congestion in the blood vessels. Additionally, significant changes were observed in liver enzyme levels. These findings indicated the potential impact of systemic infection by A. polyphaga in immunosuppressed hosts, highlighting the need for awareness and intervention strategies to mitigate such life-threatening infections. Further research is crucial to better understand the disseminated Acanthamoebiasis by analyzing changes in gene and protein expressions in liver tissues.

DOI

10.21608/aunj.2025.341529.1108

Keywords

Disseminated Acanthamoebiasis, immunosuppressed, Liver, pathogenicity, Cytokines

Authors

First Name

Mona

Last Name

Khalaf

MiddleName

Mohamed A.

Affiliation

Parasitology Laboratory, Zoology and Entomology Department, Faculty of Science, Assiut University (71526), Assiut, Egypt

Email

mona_khalaf20@science.aun.edu.eg

City

Assiut

Orcid

-

First Name

Sara

Last Name

Abdel-Hakeem

MiddleName

S

Affiliation

Parasitology Laboratory, Zoology and Entomology Department, Faculty of Science, Assiut University (71526), Assiut, Egypt

Email

sara_assiut86@aun.edu.eg

City

Assiut

Orcid

-

First Name

Mahmoud

Last Name

Abdel-Samiee

MiddleName

Abdel-Zaher

Affiliation

Department of Pathology and Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Assiut University (71526), Assiut, Egypt

Email

mahmoud.ali4@vet.au.edu.eg

City

Assiut

Orcid

-

First Name

Gamal

Last Name

Abed

MiddleName

Hassan

Affiliation

Parasitology Laboratory, Zoology and Entomology Department, Faculty of Science, Assiut University (71526), Assiut, Egypt

Email

abed@aun.edu.eg

City

Assiut

Orcid

-

First Name

Fatma

Last Name

Anwar

MiddleName

A. S.

Affiliation

Parasitology Laboratory, Zoology and Entomology Department, Faculty of Science, Assiut University (71526), Assiut, Egypt

Email

fatma.anwar@science.aun.edu.eg

City

Assiut

Orcid

-

Volume

54

Article Issue

2

Related Issue

55339

Issue Date

2025-05-01

Receive Date

2024-12-05

Publish Date

2025-05-01

Page Start

303

Page End

328

Print ISSN

2812-5029

Online ISSN

2812-5037

Link

https://aunj.journals.ekb.eg/article_424616.html

Detail API

http://journals.ekb.eg?_action=service&article_code=424616

Order

424,616

Type

Novel Research Articles

Type Code

2,242

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Assiut University Journal of Multidisciplinary Scientific Research

Publication Link

https://aunj.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Systemic Histopathological and Immunological Changes in the Liver of Immunosuppressed Mice Infected with Acanthamoeba polyphaga Isolated from Contaminated Contact Lenses

Details

Type

Article

Created At

04 May 2025