title: Acanthamoeba: biology and increasing importance in human health.
abstract: 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 disease, as well as virulence traits of Acanthamoeba that may be targets for therapeutic interventions and/or the development of preventative measures.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Birkbeck College, University of London, London, UK. n.khan@sbc.bbk.ac.uk
authors.forename: Naveed Ahmed
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Khan
mesh_terms: D000048:Acanthamoeba / Q000382:microbiology / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology; D015823:Acanthamoeba Keratitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy / Q000635:transmission; D000562:Amebiasis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy / Q000635:transmission; D000818:Animals; D020808:Central Nervous System Protozoal Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy / Q000635:transmission; D004199:Disease Vectors; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D012876:Skin Diseases, Parasitic / Q000469:parasitology; D014774:Virulence