OBJECTIVES To establish that the protozoan Acanthamoeba is one of the causative organisms associated with non-contact lens-related keratitis in the Indian population and to develop a simple and sensitive diagnostic assay for clinical testing. DESIGN DNA sequencing of nuclear 18S and 26S ribosomal DNA motifs was performed and compared with the reference Acanthamoeba strains, to establish the g...

BACKGROUND Free-living amoebae belonging to the genus Acanthamoeba have an environmental distribution. Amoebic keratitis due to these protozoan parasites continue to rise in Iran and worldwide. In Iran, there are various researches regarding both morphological and molecular identification of Acanthamoeba spp. in environmental and clinical samples. However, there is no thorough review about Acan...

Experimental Acanthamoeba keratitis was induced in Wistar rats by intrastromal inoculation of Acanthamoeba polyphaga cysts. Keratitis developed in all corneas injected and was characterised by a diffuse granular opacity. The animals were examined for 70 days and a gradual reduction of keratitis was observed. Pathological sections showed liquefactive stromal necrosis and Acanthamoeba localised i...

The incidence of protozoal and helminthic infestations of the central nervous system (CNS) is less than 1%, but these infestations tend to follow a fatal course. They are more common among children, the elderly and immunocompromised individuals. CNS infections due to Entamoeba histolytica have been known for a long time. In recent years, especially in developing countries, there has been an inc...

Background & Objectives: Cold Plasma is an emerging non-thermal, chemical-free, environmentally friendly disinfection technology. Plasma-activated water has received considerable attention from researchers in recent years. Despite extensive studies on the antibacterial effects of plasma-activated water, its anti-eukaryotic have not been identified. In humans, Acanthamoeba causes granulomatous e...

PURPOSE The purpose of the current study was to investigate ex vivo laser confocal microscopic findings of cultured Acanthamoeba trophozoites obtained from Acanthamoeba keratitis patients. METHODS Eight cultured samples of Acanthamoeba trophozoites from eight eyes of seven patients (mean age, 26.9 years; age range, 18-52 years) were used. Seven samples were from corneal scrapings of Acanthamo...

Background Acanthamoeba spp. is potentially pathogenic free-living amoeba that can exist in various water sources. The presence of this amoeba in water sources could be a health hazard as Acanthamoeba could lead to severe diseases such as Acanthamoeba keratitis and encephalitis. This study aimed to determine the genotypes of isolated Acanthamoeba spp. in raw wastewater samples in Tehran, Iran. ...

PURPOSE Acanthamoeba is an uncommon cause of corneal infection in which the best visual outcome follows prompt diagnosis and a long course of appropriate antimicrobial therapy. Because conventional detection techniques for Acanthamoeba have certain limitations, we investigated the ability of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to confirm the clinical diagnosis of Acanthamoeba keratitis, with th...

Free-living amoebae in water are hosts to many bacterial species living in such an environment. Such an association enables bacteria to select virulence factors and survive in adverse conditions. Waterborne mycobacteria (WBM) are important sources of community- and hospital-acquired outbreaks of nontuberculosis mycobacterial infections. However, the interactions between WBM and free-living amoe...