Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Paulista School of Medicine, São Paulo Hospital, Federal University of São Paulo, UNIFESP, Rua Pedro de Toledo, 669 - Vila Clementino, São Paulo, SP, 04039-032, Brazil.
Research and Extension Center, Medical Course At the Center for Biological and Health Sciences, State University of Pará, UEPA Belém, Belém, PA, Brazil.
Parasitol Res. 2021 Aug;120(8):2717-2729. doi: 10.1007/s00436-021-07240-6. Epub 2021 Jul 22.
Acanthamoeba spp. have always caused disease in immunosuppressed patients, but since 1986, they have become a worldwide public health issue by causing infection in healthy contact lens wearers. Amoebae of the Acanthamoeba genus are broadly distributed in nature, living either freely or as parasites, and are frequently associated with biofilms throughout the environment. These biofilms provide the parasite with protection against external aggression, thus favoring its increased pathogeny. This review aims to assess observational studies on the association between Acanthamoeba spp. and biofilms, opening potential lines of research on this severe ocular infection. A systematic literature search was conducted in May 2020 in the following databases: PubMed Central/Medline, LILACS, The Cochrane Library, and EMBASE. The studies were selected following the inclusion and exclusion criteria specifically defined for this review. Electronic research recovered 353 publications in the literature. However, none of the studies met the inclusion criterion of biofilm-producing Acanthamoeba spp., inferring that the parasite does not produce biofilms. Nonetheless, 78 studies were classified as potentially included regarding any association of Acanthamoeba spp. and biofilms. These studies were allocated across six different locations (hospital, aquatic, ophthalmic and dental environments, biofilms produced by bacteria, and other places). Acanthamoeba species use biofilms produced by other microorganisms for their benefit, in addition to them providing protection to and facilitating the dissemination of pathogens residing in them.
棘阿米巴属的物种一直会导致免疫抑制患者患病，但自 1986 年以来，它们通过感染健康的隐形眼镜佩戴者而成为全球公共卫生问题。棘阿米巴属的阿米巴广泛存在于自然界中，它们可以自由生活或寄生，并且经常与环境中的生物膜有关。这些生物膜为寄生虫提供了抵御外部攻击的保护，从而使其致病性增加。本综述旨在评估棘阿米巴属和生物膜之间的观察性研究，为这种严重的眼部感染开辟潜在的研究思路。2020 年 5 月，我们在以下数据库中进行了系统的文献检索：PubMed Central/Medline、LILACS、The Cochrane Library 和 EMBASE。根据本综述专门定义的纳入和排除标准选择了研究。电子研究在文献中检索到 353 篇出版物。然而，没有一项研究符合产生生物膜的棘阿米巴属的纳入标准，这表明寄生虫不会产生生物膜。尽管如此，仍有 78 项研究被归类为可能与棘阿米巴属和生物膜有关的研究。这些研究分布在六个不同的地点（医院、水生、眼科和牙科环境、由细菌产生的生物膜以及其他地方）。棘阿米巴种利用其他微生物产生的生物膜来获益，同时这些生物膜为它们提供保护并促进了它们所携带的病原体的传播。
