title: Efficacy of miltefosine for topical treatment of Acanthamoeba keratitis in Syrian hamsters.
abstract: Acanthamoeba keratitis is a painful corneal infection and difficult to treat because no sufficiently efficient drug has yet been available. The aim of the study therefore was to assess the therapeutic potential of miltefosine on Acanthamoeba keratitis-infected hamster eyes. The cornea of hamsters were infected with Acanthamoeba hatchetti, a human corneal isolate. On the fifth day, all the cornea were microscopically examined in order to determine the degree of infections (G, from 0 to 3). Four groups were then prepared: miltefosine (160 μM); 0.1% propamidine isetionate plus 0.02% polyhexnide; infected control (0.05% ethanol in PBS) and a non-infected control (0.05% ethanol in PBS) groups. The treatment was continued for 28 days. After the treatment, the cornea were excised and used for Acanthamoeba culture to investigate the presence of Acanthamoeba growth. Miltefosine treatment yielded much higher cure scores than propamidine isetionate plus polyhexanide. On the last day of treatment, 85% of the miltefosine-treated eyes were graded as G0; no changes were observed in the uninfected control group eyes; G3 eyes showed only a partial improvement. Furthermore, no Acanthamoeba cells could be recovered from the miltefosine-treated eye samples. Miltefosine appeared to hold necessary therapeutic properties for the treatment of Acanthamoeba keratitis.
authors: Department of Medical Parasitology, Cumhuriyet University School of Medicine, 58140 Sivas, Turkey. zubeydeakin@yahoo.com
authors: Zubeyde Akın
authors: ZA
authors: Polat
authors: Andreas
authors: A
authors: Obwaller
authors: Ayse
authors: A
authors: Vural
authors: Julia
authors: J
authors: Walochnik
mesh_terms: D000048:Acanthamoeba / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015823:Acanthamoeba Keratitis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000287:Administration, Topical; D000818:Animals; D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001550:Benzamidines / Q000008:administration & dosage; D001645:Biguanides / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006224:Cricetinae; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008647:Mesocricetus; D010767:Phosphorylcholine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents; D001550:Benzamidines; D001645:Biguanides; D010767:Phosphorylcholine; C031233:polihexanide; C039128:miltefosine; C046651:propamidine isethionate