background: the aim was to compare three different methods (direct examination, culture and pcr meth­ods) for the diagnosis of acanthamoeba keratitis (ak) in corneal scrapes. methods: twenty eight corneal scrapes and contact lenses were collected from keratitis patients and re­ferred to the de­partment of medical parasitology and mycology, school of public health, tehran univer­sity of medical ...

purpose: to determine the prevalence and genotype of acanthamoeba keratitis (ak) in patients referred to farabi referral eye center methods: in this study, corneal scraping specimens that obtained from keratitis patients examined for acanthamoeba and its genotype identifications. direct smears, cultivation in non-nutrient agar (nna) followed by pcr were chosen as the basic diagnostic methods. t...

purpose : acanthamoeba keratitis (ak) is a sight-threatening corneal infection with a rapidly increased incidence since 1990s along with the growing popularity of contact lenses. in this study we aimed to study patients with ak and its associated risk factors in farabi eye hospital of tehran, focusing on those with more severe corneal involvement. methods : patients with clinical or laboratory ...

conclusions the results of the present study revealed that soil resources of these areas were contaminated with opportunistic amoebas such as acanthamoeba and hartmannella spp. and this may lead to severe diseases in high-risk people, such as immunocompromised patients. background free-living amoebas are very abundant in nature, especially in water and soil. some species of amoebas cause seriou...

Acanthamoeba is an opportunistic protozoan that is widely distributed in the environment and is well recognized to produce serious human infections, including a blinding keratitis and a fatal encephalitis. This review presents our current understanding of the burden of Acanthamoeba infections on human health, their pathogenesis and pathophysiology, and molecular mechanisms associated with the d...

Acanthamoeba is a protozoan pathogen that is responsible for two recognized diseases; i) a blinding keratitis, most commonly associated with contact lens wear, and ii) a rare but fatal granulomatous encephalitis that usually is limited to immunocompromised patients. The fact that Acanthamoeba infections are generally limited to avascular cornea or immunocompromised patients suggests that the no...

Acanthamoeba keratitis is a severe ocular infection secondary to accidental macro- or microscopic trauma of the cornea. Starting in 1985, a dramatic increase of this infection was recorded along with the spread of contact lens use. This protozoal disease is difficult to treat because of the scarcity of efficacious topical and systemic drugs. We evaluated the in vitro effectiveness of povidone-i...

Amoebic keratitis (AK) caused by Acanthamoeba is one of the most serious corneal infections. AK is frequently misdiagnosed initially as viral, bacterial, or fungal keratitis, thus ensuring treatment delays. Accordingly, the early detection of Acanthamoeba would contribute significantly to disease management and selection of an appropriate anti-amoebic therapy. Recently, the loop-mediated isothe...