A Systematic Review of Intracellular Microorganisms within Acanthamoeba to Understand Potential Impact for Infection

, an opportunistic pathogen is known to cause an infection of the cornea, central nervous system, and skin. feeds different microorganisms, including potentially pathogenic prokaryotes; some of microbes have developed ways of surviving intracellularly and this may mean that acts as incubator of important pathogens. A systematic review of the literature was performed in order to capture a comprehensive picture of the variety of microbial species identified within following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. Forty-three studies met the inclusion criteria, 26 studies (60.5%) examined environmental samples, eight (18.6%) studies examined clinical specimens, and another nine (20.9%) studies analysed both types of samples. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by gene sequencing was the most common technique used to identify the intracellular microorganisms. Important pathogenic bacteria, such as , spp. and were observed in clinical isolates of , whereas , adenovirus, mimivirus, and unidentified bacteria ( ) were often identified in environmental . Increasing resistance of associated intracellular pathogens to antimicrobials is an increased risk to public health. Molecular-based future studies are needed in order to assess the microbiome residing in , as a research on the hypotheses that intracellular microbes can affect the pathogenicity of infections.