Publications by authors named "Pedro Rocha-Cabrera"

Interest in periocular (eyelid and eyelashes margins) hygiene has attracted attention recently and a growing number of commercials eye cleanser and shampoos have been marketed. In the present study, a particular eye cleanser foam, Belcils® has been tested against trophozoites and cysts on the facultative pathogen Acanthamoeba. Viability was tested by the alamarBlue™ method and the foam was tested for the induction of programmed cell death in order to explore its mode of action.

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causes a deadly disease called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). Even though PAM is still considered a rare disease, the number of reported cases worldwide has been increasing each year. Among the factors to be considered for this, awareness about this disease, and also global warming, as these amoebae thrive in warm water bodies, seem to be the key factors.

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is a free-living amoebae genus which is present worldwide in natural and artificial environments. These amoebae are clinically important as causative agents of diseases in humans and other animals such as a fatal encephalitis or a sight threatening keratitis (AK). Lately; studies have focused on the search of novel therapeutic options for AK but also to prevent infections.

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Amoebae of the genus Acanthamoeba are ubiquitous protists that have been isolated from many sources such as soils, water and the air. They are responsible for infections including fatal encephalitis and a severe keratitis in humans. To date, there is no satisfactorily effective therapeutic agent against this pathogen and the infections it causes are exacerbated by the existence of a resistant cyst stage produced by this amoeba.

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Pathogenic strains of Acanthamoeba are causative agents of a sight-threatening infection of the cornea known as Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) which mainly affects contact lens wearers and it is commonly related to poor hygiene of contact lenses and their cases. Moreover, treatment of AK is complex due to the existence of a highly resistant cyst stage and if not diagnosed early has poor prognosis, leading to blindness and/or keratoplasty. Even though AK is increasing worldwide as well as awareness among patients and clinicians, it is still a poorly studied pathogen.

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Efficient treatments against Acanthamoeba Keratitis (AK), remains until the moment, as an issue to be solved due to the existence of a cyst stage which is highly resistant to most chemical and physical agents. In this study, two antiglaucoma eye drops were tested for their activity against Acanthamoeba. Moreover, this study was based on previous data which gave us evidence of a possible link between the absences of Acanthamoeba at the ocular surface in patients treated with beta blockers for high eye pressure both containing timolol as active principle.

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Pathogenic strains of Acanthamoeba are causative agents of a sight-threatening infection of the cornea known as Acanthamoeba keratitis, which is often associated with the misuse of contact lenses. However, there is still a question remaining to be answered, which is whether these micro-organisms are present on the ocular surface of healthy individuals. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the presence of Acanthamoeba on the ocular surface in healthy patients and also in those with other ocular surface infections.

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