The effects of clinically available drugs targeting muscarinic cholinergic, adrenergic, dopaminergic, and serotonergic receptors; intracellular calcium levels and/or the function of calcium-dependent biochemical pathways; ion channels; and cellular pumps were tested against a keratitis isolate of Acanthamoeba castellanii belonging to the T4 genotype. In vitro growth inhibition (amoebistatic) as...

PURPOSE To compare the relative diagnostic value of confocal microscopy and superficial corneal cultures in the diagnosis of Acanthamoeba keratitis by using clinical and microbiologic definitions of disease. METHODS Results of confocal microscopy, superficial corneal smear, and superficial corneal culture were analyzed for validity against 2 different microbiologic and a clinical composite st...

Acanthamoeba can cause fatal granulomatous amoebic encephalitis (GAE) and eye keratitis. However, the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of these emerging diseases remain unclear. In this study, the effects of Acanthamoeba on the host cell cycle using human brain microvascular endothelial cells (HBMEC) and human corneal epithelial cells (HCEC) were determined. Two isolates of Acanthamoeba belongi...

Sterilized soil samples (20 g of soil per 50-ml flask), amended with 600 mug of glucose-carbon and 60 mug of NH(4)-N . g of dry soil, were inoculated with bacteria (Pseudomonas paucimobilis) alone or with bacteria and amoebae (Acanthamoeba polyphaga). We used wet-dry treatments, which involved air drying the samples to a moisture content of approximately 2% and remoistening the samples three ti...

BACKGROUND Microbial corneal infection is the most serious complication of contact lens wear. Contact lens cases are a recognised potential source of pathogens associated with corneal ulcers. METHODS This survey established the incidence of protozoal, bacterial, and fungal contact lens case contamination in 101 asymptomatic daily wear cosmetic contact lens wearers from a domiciliary contact l...

Acanthamoeba infection is difficult to treat because of the resistance property of Acanthamoeba cyst against the host immune system, diverse antibiotics, and therapeutic agents. To identify encystation mediating factors of Acanthamoeba, we compared the transcription profile between cysts and trophozoites using microarray analysis. The DNA chip was composed of 12,544 genes based on expressed seq...

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...

Acanthamoeba castellanii is member of free living amoeba that may cause painful sight-threatening keratitis and life threatening encephalitis which involves central nervous system. Treatments for both infections are problematic because of the amoebic cysts resistance to therapeutic agents. Here we evaluated in vitro strength of methanolic seed extract of Peganum harmala on Acanthamoeba cysts an...

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...