{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,14]],"date-time":"2026-10-14T20:40:12Z","timestamp":1792010412802,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,28]],"date-time":"2024-06-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1719532800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Universidade Federal do Par\u00e1"},{"name":"Instituto Federal de Educa\u00e7\u00e3o, Ci\u00eancia e Tecnologia do Par\u00e1"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["TropicalMed"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Acanthamoeba genus can affect humans with diseases such as granulomatous amebic encephalitis (GAE), a highly lethal neuroinfection. Several aspects of the disease still need to be elucidated. Animal models of GAE have advanced our knowledge of the disease. This work tested Wistar rats (Rattus norvegicus albinus) as an animal model of GAE. For this, 32 animals were infected with 1 \u00d7 106\u00a0A. castellanii trophozoites of the T4 genotype. Ameba recovery tests were carried out using agar plates, vascular extravasation assays, behavioral tests, and histopathological technique with H\/E staining. Data were subjected to linear regression analysis, one-way ANOVA, and Tukey\u2019s test, performed in the GraphPad Prism\u00ae 8.0 program, with a significance level of p &lt; 0.05. The results revealed the efficiency of the model. Amebae were recovered from the liver, lungs, and brain of infected animals, and there were significant encephalic vascular extravasations and behavioral changes in these animals, but not in the control animals. However, not all infected animals showed positive histopathology for the analyzed organs. Nervous tissues were the least affected, demonstrating the role of the BBB in the defense of the CNS. Supported by the demonstrated evidence, we confirm the difficulties and the feasibilities of using rats as an animal model of GAE.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/tropicalmed9070145","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,1]],"date-time":"2024-07-01T03:38:27Z","timestamp":1719805107000},"page":"145","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Experimental Granulomatous Amebic Encephalitis Caused by Acanthamoeba castellanii"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"given":"Samuel da Luz","family":"Borges","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Laborat\u00f3rio de Protozoologia, N\u00facleo de Medicina Tropical, Universidade Federal do Par\u00e1, Bel\u00e9m 66055-240, Brazil"},{"name":"Laborat\u00f3rio de Biologia, Campus Castanhal, Instituto Federal de Educa\u00e7\u00e3o, Ci\u00eancia e Tecnologia do Par\u00e1, Castanhal 68740-970, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Eberson da Silva","family":"de Macedo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laborat\u00f3rio de Protozoologia, N\u00facleo de Medicina Tropical, Universidade Federal do Par\u00e1, Bel\u00e9m 66055-240, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Felipe Alexandre Vinagre","family":"da Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laborat\u00f3rio de Protozoologia, N\u00facleo de Medicina Tropical, Universidade Federal do Par\u00e1, Bel\u00e9m 66055-240, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Brenda Jaqueline de Azevedo","family":"Ata\u00edde","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laborat\u00f3rio de Neurofarmacologia Experimental, Instituto de Ci\u00eancias Biol\u00f3gicas, Universidade Federal do Par\u00e1, Bel\u00e9m 66075-110, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"N\u00edvia de Souza Franco","family":"Mendes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laborat\u00f3rio de Neurofarmacologia Experimental, Instituto de Ci\u00eancias Biol\u00f3gicas, Universidade Federal do Par\u00e1, Bel\u00e9m 66075-110, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Adelaide da Concei\u00e7\u00e3o Fonseca","family":"Passos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laborat\u00f3rio de Neurofarmacologia Experimental, Instituto de Ci\u00eancias Biol\u00f3gicas, Universidade Federal do Par\u00e1, Bel\u00e9m 66075-110, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Suellen Alessandra Soares","family":"de Moraes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laborat\u00f3rio de Neurofarmacologia Experimental, Instituto de Ci\u00eancias Biol\u00f3gicas, Universidade Federal do Par\u00e1, Bel\u00e9m 66075-110, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anderson Manoel","family":"Herculano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laborat\u00f3rio de Neurofarmacologia Experimental, Instituto de Ci\u00eancias Biol\u00f3gicas, Universidade Federal do Par\u00e1, Bel\u00e9m 66075-110, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Karen Renata Herculano Matos","family":"Oliveira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laborat\u00f3rio de Neurofarmacologia Experimental, Instituto de Ci\u00eancias Biol\u00f3gicas, Universidade Federal do Par\u00e1, Bel\u00e9m 66075-110, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Carlomagno Pacheco","family":"Bahia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laborat\u00f3rio de Neuroplasticidade, Instituto de Ci\u00eancias da Sa\u00fade, Universidade Federal do Par\u00e1, Bel\u00e9m 66055-240, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5576-3214","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Silvio Santana","family":"Dolabella","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laborat\u00f3rio de Entomologia e Parasitologia Tropical, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Aracaj\u00fa 49060-108, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Evander de Jesus Oliveira","family":"Batista","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laborat\u00f3rio de Protozoologia, N\u00facleo de Medicina Tropical, Universidade Federal do Par\u00e1, Bel\u00e9m 66055-240, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1375","DOI":"10.1007\/s00436-015-4871-7","article-title":"Acanthamoeba and Other Free-living Amoebae in bat guano, an extreme habitat","volume":"115","author":"Mulec","year":"2016","journal-title":"Parasitol. 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