Thai Acanthamoeba isolate (T4) induced apoptotic death in neuroblastoma cells via the Bax-mediated pathway.

A Thai Acanthamoeba isolate named AS recovered from a corneal scraping of a keratitis patient was genotypically determined as T4. AS trophozoites were used for studying Acanthamoeba-induced apoptosis in mouse neuroblastoma NA cells during in vitro co-cultivation. The Acanthamoeba-exposed NA cells showed signs of apoptosis including cell shrinkage, nuclear condensation and DNA fragmentation.

Orbital apex syndrome from gnathostomiasis.

A 16-year-old Thai girl presented with acute unilateral visual loss, proptosis, and ophthalmoparesis. CT demonstrated thickening and enhancement of orbital tissues including the orbital apex. A history of consumption of raw fish, together with the findings of cutaneous migratory swelling and eosinophilia, made the diagnosis of gnathostomiasis likely.

Immunobiological diagnosis of tropical ocular diseases: Toxocara, Pythium insidiosum, Pseudomonas (Burkholderia) pseudomallei, Mycobacterium chelonei and Toxoplasma gondii.

Of the sera obtained from 18 patients with ocular diseases comprising ocular larva migrans (OLM), Toxoplasma gondii, Mycobacterium chelonei, Pythium insidiosum bacteria and tumour, 3 sera were positive for Toxocara antibody at the titre over 1/1600 ELISA. All 3 of these sera came from males with unilateral grayish fundi. We demonstrated the value of the direct immunofluorescent assay (DIFA) on vitreous specimens from 7 cases of Toxoplasma retinitis.