Available online at www.ijpcr.com International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Clinical Research 2017; 9(1): 21-25 ISSN- 0975 1556 Research Article *Author for Correspondence: alherrawy@gmail.com Acanthamoeba Species in Tap Water, Egypt Ahmad Z Al-Herrawy * , Mohamed A Marouf, Mahmoud A Gad Water Pollution Research Dept., National Research Centre, 12622 Dokki, Giza, Egypt. Available Online: 25 th January, 2017 ABSTRACT Genus Acanthamoeba causes 3 clinical syndromes amebic keratitis, granulomatous amebic encephalitis and disseminated granulomatous amebic disease (eg, sinus, skin and pulmonary infections). A total of 144 tap water samples were collected from Giza governorate, Egypt. Samples were processed for detection of Acanthamoeba species using non-nutrient agar (NNA) and were incubated at 30 o C. The isolates of Acanthamoeba were identified to species level based on the morphologic criteria. Molecular characterization of the Acanthamoeba isolates to genus level was performed by using PCR. The obtained results showed that the highest occurrence percentage of Acanthamoeba species in water samples was observed in summer season (38.9%), then it decreased to be 30.6% in spring and 25% in each of autumn and winter. PCR analysis showed that 100% of 43 Acanthamoeba morphologically positive samples were positive by genus specific primer. In the present study eight species of Acanthamoeba can be morphologically recognized namely Acanthamoeba triangularis, Acanthamoeba echinulata, Acanthamoeba astronyxis, Acanthamoeba comandoni, Acanthamoeba griffini, Acanthamoeba culbertsoni, Acanthamoeba quina and Acanthamoeba lenticulata. In conclusion, the most common Acanthamoeba species in tap water was Acanthamoeba comandoni. Keywords: Acanthamoeba, Morphology, PCR, Tap water, Egypt. INTRODUCTION There is a worldwide worry that all the total populace ought to have entry to safe drinking water. Indeed, even in the 21 st century, there are many individuals without access to safe water, in amount and additionally quality for the basic needs 1 . One of the vital issues in water pollution is the occurrence of pathogenic amoebae in tap or drinking water 2 . The presence of these pathogens needs to be monitored in order to assess the human risk from a several of illnesses ranging from keratitis, gastroenteritis, and infections of the lungs and skin to more serious illnesses such as primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), aseptic meningitis and granulomatous amoebic encephalitis (GAE) 3 . Free-living amoebae are ubiquitous in aquatic environments and are aerobic, eukaryotic, mitochondriate protists 3 . They are frequently alluded to as amphizoic amoebae because of their capacity to live unreservedly without a host notwithstanding having the ability to attack a host and live as parasites 3,4 . People are consistently presented to these amoebae because of their pervasive event in the earth. These microorganisms can likewise be found in drinking water 5 . Genus Acanthamoeba is a member of free-living amoebae, individuals from which can bring about a conceivably blinding keratitis in people 6 . Acanthamoeba life cycle contains dormant cyst and feeding, replicating trophozoite stages 7 . The Acanthamoeba cysts resistance to most of antimicrobial agents makes Acanthamoeba keratitis one of the most difficult ocular infections to treat with a mean treatment time of over 5 months 8,9 . Acanthamoeba cysts can withstand extremes of desiccation, temperature, and disinfection, 10 these organisms were isolated from soil, rivers, mud, lakes, ponds, water cooling towers, tap water, chlorinated bathing pools and the atmosphere 10,11 . Acanthamoeba polyphaga, Acanthamoeba castellanii, Acanthamoeba palestinensis, Acanthamoeba culbertsoni, Acanthamoeba astronyxis, Acanthamoeba rhysodes, Acanthamoeba divionensis, Acanthamoeba hatchetti, Acanthamoeba healyi and Acanthamoeba griffini have all been implicated in human infections 12 . So, the objective of the present study was to assess the prevalence of Acanthamoeba species in Giza governorate tap water in Egypt. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 144 tap water samples were collected from Giza governorate during the period of one year. Twelve water samples (1liter volume each) were collected every month. Samples were separately collected in a clean, dry and autoclavable polypropylene containers then sent to the laboratory where they were processed at the same day of collection. Samples were transported at ambient temperature 13,14 . One liter of each sample was filtered through a nitrocellulose membrane filter (0.45 μm pore size and 47 mm diameter) using a stainless steel filter holder connected with a suction pump. Filtration was stopped just before drying of the membrane 13,14 . After filtration process, the membrane was inverted face to face on the surface of a non-nutrient agar (NNA) plate seeded with heat-killed Escherichia coli. The plate was wrapped with parafilm and incubated at 30 o C for the cultivation of free-living amoebae 14,15 . Incubated plates were daily DOI number: 10.25258/ijpcr.v9i1.8259