PHAGOCYTIC-ACTIVITY OF 3 NAEGLERIA STRAINS IN THE PRESENCE OF ERYTHROCYTES OF VARIOUS TYPES

The phagocytic activities of N. lovaniensis (Aq/9/1/45D) and N. gruberi (1518/f and 1518/le) were studied in the presence of erythrocytes of various species: chicken, rabbit, goat, and human A+, B+, AB+ were tested).The percentage of amoebae with ingested red cells, the phagocytic index (PhI), can be considered as an expression of phagocytic activity. Under given conditions (erythrocyte concentration, incubation time, age of amoebic cultures) each strain of Naegleria prefers one erythrocyte type. Thus, for 72-h cultures, N. lovaniensis ingested more A+ type erythrocytes than did N. gruberi strains but had very low affinity for rabbit red cells except when very high concntrations were tested. Naegleria gruberi 1f was the most active of the three strains towards rabbit and B+ and AB+ human erythrocytes, but very low PhIs were obtained with goat erythrocytes. Naegleria gruberi 1e exhibited high phagocytic activity for every erythrocyte type except for rabbit red cells.