Swedish isolates of Vibrio cholerae enhance their survival when interacted intracellularly with Acanthamoeba castellanii

Vibrio cholerae is a Gram-negative bacterium that occurs naturally in aquatic environment. Only V. cholerae O1 and V. cholerae O139 produce cholera toxin and cause cholera, other serogroups can cause gastroenteritis, open wounds infection, and septicaemia. V. cholerae O1 and V. cholerae O139 grow and survive inside Acanthamoeba castellanii. The aim of this study is to investigate the interactions of the Swedish clinical isolates V. cholerae O3, V. cholerae O4, V. cholerae O5, V. cholerae O11, and V. cholerae O160 with A. castellanii. The interaction between A. castellanii and V. cholerae strains was studied by means of amoeba cell counts, viable counts of the bacteria in the absence or presence of amoebae, and of the intracellularly growing bacteria, visualised by electron microscopy. These results show that all V. cholerae can grow and survive outside and inside the amoebae, disclosing that V. cholerae O3, V. cholerae O4, V. cholerae O5, V. cholerae O11, and V. cholerae O160 all can be considered as facultative intracellular bacteria.