{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,26]],"date-time":"2026-06-26T06:48:07Z","timestamp":1782456487860,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,25]],"date-time":"2025-02-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1740441600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec040\">\n<jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Species of the genus <jats:italic>Acanthamoeba<\/jats:italic> spp. are ubiquitous and can cause <jats:italic>Acanthamoeba<\/jats:italic> keratitis (AK), a serious corneal infection. Due to the toxicity and ineffectiveness of currently available prolonged therapies, we investigated electroceutical treatment aimed at facilitating the permeation of molecules through the membrane of cysts and trophozoites, which allows for faster elimination of the parasite.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec041\">\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Cysts and trophozoites of <jats:italic>Acanthamoeba polyphaga<\/jats:italic> (ATCC\u00ae 30461<jats:sup>TM<\/jats:sup>) were exposed <jats:italic>in vitro<\/jats:italic> to an electric field with intensities of 2,000 volts and 2,500 volts. Viability after electroporation was assessed by the exclusion method with 0.4% trypan blue dye, while permeabilization was assessed by fluorescence microscopy using propidium iodide (PI), since both are impermeable to the membrane of viable and intact cells. The images were acquired on a Nikon Eclipse TI-U microscope and analyzed using <jats:italic>ImageJ<\/jats:italic> software.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec042\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>With regard to viability, 40% of the trophozoites electroporated at 2,000 V and 42% of those electroporated at 2,500 V were lost, while for cysts the loss was 13% and 16% respectively. Considering permeabilization, 55% of trophozoites and cysts were permeabilized at 2,000 V (p \u2264 0.05); and 59% at 2,500 V for both (p \u2264 0.05). Values of p &lt; 0.05 were considered statistically significant.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec043\">\n<jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The voltages tested were effective for both cysts and trophozoites, since the percentages of permeabilization were close, with no statistical significance between them, only with the control groups. These results suggest the possibility that an electroceutical treatment could be applied as a complement to the standard treatment for AK.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0317409","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,25]],"date-time":"2025-02-25T18:28:22Z","timestamp":1740508102000},"page":"e0317409","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Effects of electroporation on Acanthamoeba Polyphaga"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"20","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-5756-2863","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Palloma Santiago Prates","family":"Pessoa","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Raphael","family":"Barcelos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Larissa Fagundes","family":"Pinto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Denise","family":"de Freitas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mauro","family":"Campos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,25]]},"reference":[{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0317409.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"231","DOI":"10.1016\/j.exppara.2009.07.006","article-title":"Genotyping, physiological features and proteolytic activities of a potentially pathogenic Acanthamoeba sp. isolated from tap water in Brazil","volume":"123","author":"AC Magliano","year":"2009","journal-title":"Exp Parasitol"},{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0317409.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"399","DOI":"10.1016\/j.patbio.2012.03.002","article-title":"Pathogenic free-living amoebae: epidemiology and clinical review","volume":"60","author":"H Trabelsi","year":"2012","journal-title":"Pathol Biol (Paris)"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0317409.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"181","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pt.2013.01.006","article-title":"Acanthamoeba keratitis: an emerging disease gathering importance worldwide?","volume":"29","author":"J Lorenzo-Morales","year":"2013","journal-title":"Trends Parasitol"},{"key":"pone.0317409.ref004","volume-title":"Acanthamoeba Keratitis: Diagnosis and Treatment","author":"ZS Wang","year":"2018"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0317409.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"69","DOI":"10.1111\/jeu.12186","article-title":"Phylogenetic analysis and the evolution of the 18S rRNA gene typing system of Acanthamoeba","volume":"62","author":"PA Fuerst","year":"2015","journal-title":"J Eukaryot Microbiol"},{"issue":"7","key":"pone.0317409.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2481","DOI":"10.1007\/s00436-015-4445-8","article-title":"Acanthamoeba misidentification and multiple labels: redefining genotypes T16, T19, and T20 and proposal for Acanthamoeba micheli sp. nov. 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