keratitis (AK) is a severe infection of the cornea. Prevention and treatment are difficult due to the inefficacy of currently available compounds. The impact of many commonly used compounds for routine examinations of is unexplored but might offer insight useful in combatting AK.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF, a free-living amoeba in water and soil, is an emerging pathogen causing severe eye infection known as keratitis. In its natural environment, performs a dual function as an environmental heterotrophic predator and host for a range of microorganisms that resist digestion. Our objective was to characterize the intracellular microorganisms of phylogenetically distinct spp.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCases of amoebic keratitis involving species other than are hypothesised to be underdiagnosed and poorly understood. Amoebic keratitis is debilitating and associated with chronic visual impairment. Understanding associated symptoms of non- amoebic keratitis could facilitate new diagnostic procedures and enable prompt treatment, ultimately leading to improved patient outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEver since the publication of the seminal paper by Lynn Margulis in 1967 proposing the theory of the endosymbiotic origin of organelles, the study of the symbiotic relationships between unicellular eukaryotes and prokaryotes has received ever-growing attention by microbiologists and evolutionists alike. While the evolutionary significance of the endosymbiotic associations within protists has emerged and is intensively studied, the impact of these relationships on human health has been seldom taken into account. Microbial endosymbioses involving human eukaryotic pathogens are not common, and the sexually transmitted obligate parasite and the free-living opportunistic pathogen represent two unique cases in this regard, to date.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe opportunistic pathogen, Acanthamoeba castellanii is the causative agent for the sight threatening infection Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK). It is commonly associated with contact lens wearers, and prevalence is increasing at an alarming rate due to an inadequate preventive strategy to protect the lens from this protist. This problem is compounded by the lack of an effective acanthamoebocide, particularly with cysticidal activity in the contact lens solutions.
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