Development of anti-acanthamoebic approaches

• Published in: International Microbiology
• Main Author: Mungroo M.R.; Tong T.; Khan N.A.; Anuar T.S.; Maciver S.K.; Siddiqui R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH 2021
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85103215615&doi=10.1007%2fs10123-021-00171-3&partnerID=40&md5=4018d870378d347450a83cc6ba755cec

Acanthamoeba keratitis is a sight-endangering eye infection, and causative organism Acanthamoeba presents a significant concern to public health, given escalation of contact lens wearers. Contemporary therapy is burdensome, necessitating prompt diagnosis and aggressive treatment. None of the contact lens disinfectants (local and international) can eradicate Acanthamoeba effectively. Using a range of compounds targeting cellulose, ion channels, and biochemical pathways, we employed bioassay-guided testing to determine their anti-amoebic effects. The results indicated that acarbose, indaziflam, terbuthylazine, glimepiride, inositol, vildagliptin and repaglinide showed anti-amoebic effects. Compounds showed minimal toxicity on human cells. Therefore, effects of the evaluated compounds after conjugation with nanoparticles should certainly be the subject of future studies and will likely lead to promising leads for potential applications. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.