Acanthamoeba containing endosymbiotic chlamydia isolated from hospital environments and its potential role in inflammatory exacerbation. Issue 1 (December 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fukumoto, Tatsuya; Matsuo, Junji; Okubo, Torahiko; Nakamura, Shinji; Miyamoto, Kentaro; Oka, Kentaro; Takahashi, Motomichi; Akizawa, Kouji; Shibuya, Hitoshi; Shimizu, Chikara; Yamaguchi, Hiroyuki
• Is Part Of: BMC microbiology. Volume 16:Issue 1(2016)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 8
• Publication Date: 2016-12
• Subjects: Acanthamoeba -- Environmental chlamydiae -- Hospital -- IL-8 -- Genome sequence; Microbiology -- Periodicals; 579.05
• DOI: 10.1186/s12866-016-0906-1
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1471-2180

Abstract

Abstract Background Environmental chlamydiae belonging to theParachlamydiaceae are obligate intracellular bacteria that infectAcanthamoeba, a free-living amoeba, and are a risk for hospital-acquired pneumonia. However, whether amoebae harboring environmental chlamydiae actually survive in hospital environments is unknown. We therefore isolated living amoebae with symbiotic chlamydiae from hospital environments. Results One hundred smear samples were collected from Hokkaido University Hospital, Sapporo, Japan; 50 in winter (February to March, 2012) and 50 in summer (August, 2012), and used for the study. Acanthamoebae were isolated from the smear samples, and endosymbiotic chlamydial traits were assessed by infectivity, cytokine induction, and draft genomic analysis. From these, 23 amoebae were enriched on agar plates spread with heat-killedEscherichia coli . Amoeba prevalence was greater in the summer-collected samples (15/30, 50%) than those of the winter season (8/30, 26.7%), possibly indicating a seasonal variation (p = 0.096). Morphological assessment of cysts revealed 21 amoebae (21/23, 91%) to beAcanthamoeba, and cultures in PYG medium were established for 11 of these amoebae. Three amoebae contained environmental chlamydiae; however, only one amoeba (Acanthamoeba T4) with an environmental chlamydia (Protochlamydia W-9) was shown the infectious ability toAcanthamoeba C3 (reference amoebae). WhileProtochlamydia W-9 could infect C3 amoeba, it failed to replicate in immortal human epithelial, although exposure of HEp-2 cells to living bacteria induced the proinflammatory cytokine, IL-8. Comparative genome analysis with KEGG revealed similar genomic features compared with otherProtochlamydia genomes (UWE25 and R18), except for a lack of genes encoding the type IV secretion system. Interestingly, resistance genes associated with several antibiotics and toxic compounds were identified. Conclusion These findings are the first demonstration of the distribution in a hospital of a livingAcanthamoeba carrying an endosymbiotic chlamydial pathogen.