توران نیری چگنی - Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
فاطمه غفاری فر - Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
مجید پیرستانی - Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
فریبا خوش زبان - Department of Parasitology, Shahed University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
عبدالحسین دلیمی اصل - Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
ناهید ماسپی - Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Paramedicine, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran.

Background and Aims: Amoebae of the genus Acanthamoeba are unicellular amphizoic opportunistic pathogens that may cause fatal granulomatous encephalitis, eye keratitis, amebic pneumonitis and skin nodules as well as abscesses in humans and animals. Acanthamoeba keratitis is caused by trauma to the eye, contaminated cleaning solutions and the use of contact lenses. The aim of the present study was to identify the genotypes of Acanthamoeba in all patients with a clinical diagnosis of Acanthamoeba keratitis referring to eye clinic in Tehran using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Materials and Methods: In this study, samples were collected from ۳۵ patients who had referred to the eye clinic and were cultured on ۱.۵% non-nutrient agar. DNA was extracted, and then PCR amplification was performed using genus specific primers. Sequencing analysis and basic local alignment search tool search were conducted to determine the genotypes. Phylogenetic tree was generated using maximum likely algorithm in phylogenetic program MEGA version ۶. Results: Eight cases were positive for Acanthamoeba using genus specific primer pairs. All specimens were reported as genotype T۴. Conclusions: Determination of genotypes showed all isolates belonging to genotype T۴; this abundance may be due to its higher prevalence in the environment or its greater virulence. However, further analysis of clinical and environmental samples is necessary to clarify this property.

Acanthamoeba, Genotyping, Keratitis, PCR