Isolation of two strains of Acanthamoeba castellanii from human tissue and their pathogenicity and isoenzyme profiles.

Two strains of amoebae, one (CDC:0180:1) from the lung tissue of a patient who died of granulomatous amoebic encephalitis and the other (CDC:0179:1) from the debrided tissue of a mandibular autograft, were isolated and identified as Acanthamoeba castellanii based on the morphological and immunofluorescent staining characteristics of the trophozoites and cysts. Both strains of amoebae caused cytopathic effects in mammalian cell cultures and destroyed the cell sheet. However, only the CDC:0180:1 strain, on intranasal instillation into mice, produced the disease manifested by ruffled fur and aimless wandering, followed by coma and death within 30 days. The CDC:0180:1 strain also differed consistently from CDC:0179:1 and another nonpathogenic A. castellanii strain (ATCC 30,011) in isoenzyme makeup, a dissimilarity which probably reflects its pathogenic potential.