Parasites, Hosts and Diseases

The Korea Society for Parasitology and Tropical Medicine (대한기생충학·열대의학회)
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Molecular detection and characterization of Acanthamoeba infection in dogs and its association with keratitis in Korea

  • Subin Lee (College of Veterinary Medicine, Chungbuk National University) ;
  • Badriah Alkathiri (College of Veterinary Medicine, Chungbuk National University) ;
  • Ji Seung Jung (College of Veterinary Medicine, Chungbuk National University) ;
  • Nanyoung Kang (College of Veterinary Medicine, Chungbuk National University) ;
  • Jiyi Hwang (College of Veterinary Medicine, Chungbuk National University) ;
  • Sang-Eun Park (College of Veterinary Medicine, Chungbuk National University) ;
  • Yeonchul Hong (Department of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University) ;
  • Kyung-Mee Park (College of Veterinary Medicine, Chungbuk National University) ;
  • Seung-Hun Lee (College of Veterinary Medicine, Chungbuk National University)
  • Received : 2023.11.09
  • Accepted : 2024.01.15
  • Published : 2024.02.29
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Abstract

Acanthamoeba infection is associated with keratitis in humans; however, its association with keratitis in dogs remains unclear. To investigate this possibility, we collected 171 conjunctival swab samples from dogs with eye-related diseases (65 with keratitis and 106 without keratitis) at Chungbuk National University Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Korea, from August 2021 to September 2022. Polymerase chain reaction identified 9 samples (5.3%) as Acanthamoeba positive; of these, 3 were from dogs with keratitis (4.6%) and 6 were from dogs without keratitis (5.7%). Our results indicated no significant association between Acanthamoeba infection and keratitis, season, sex, or age. All Acanthamoeba organisms found in this study had the genotype T4, according to 18S ribosomal RNA analysis. Acanthamoeba infection in dogs might have only a limited association with keratitis.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This study was supported by a National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government (MSIT; No. 2021R1F1A1061795) and the Basic Research Lab Program (2022R1A4A1025557), funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT in Korea.

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