TY - JOUR
T1 - Three encephalitis-causing amoebae and their distinct interactions with the host
AU - Sarink, Maarten J.
AU - van der Meijs, Nadia L.
AU - Denzer, Kristin
AU - Koenderman, Leo
AU - Tielens, Aloysius G.M.
AU - van Hellemond, Jaap J.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank the Netherlands Centre for One Health (NCOH), the Graduate School of Life Sciences Utrecht University, and the Erasmus Medical Center for their support. The authors declare no competing interests.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2022/3
Y1 - 2022/3
N2 - Naegleria fowleri, Balamuthia mandrillaris, and Acanthamoeba spp. can cause devastating brain infections in humans which almost always result in death. The symptoms of the three infections overlap, but brain inflammation and the course of the disease differ, depending on the amoeba that is responsible. Understanding the differences between these amoebae can result in the development of strategies to prevent and treat these infections. Recently, numerous scientific advancements have been made in the understanding of pathogenicity mechanisms in general, and the basic biology, epidemiology, and the human immune response towards these amoebae in particular. In this review, we combine this knowledge and aim to identify which factors can explain the differences between the lethal brain infections caused by N. fowleri, B. mandrillaris, and Acanthamoeba spp.
AB - Naegleria fowleri, Balamuthia mandrillaris, and Acanthamoeba spp. can cause devastating brain infections in humans which almost always result in death. The symptoms of the three infections overlap, but brain inflammation and the course of the disease differ, depending on the amoeba that is responsible. Understanding the differences between these amoebae can result in the development of strategies to prevent and treat these infections. Recently, numerous scientific advancements have been made in the understanding of pathogenicity mechanisms in general, and the basic biology, epidemiology, and the human immune response towards these amoebae in particular. In this review, we combine this knowledge and aim to identify which factors can explain the differences between the lethal brain infections caused by N. fowleri, B. mandrillaris, and Acanthamoeba spp.
KW - Acanthamoeba
KW - Balamuthia mandrillaris
KW - central nervous system
KW - host–pathogen interactions
KW - immunity
KW - Naegleria fowleri
KW - protozoal infections
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85118858081&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.pt.2021.10.004
DO - 10.1016/j.pt.2021.10.004
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85118858081
SN - 1471-4922
VL - 38
SP - 230
EP - 245
JO - Trends in Parasitology
JF - Trends in Parasitology
IS - 3
ER -