ABSTRACT
Acanthamoeba is a free-living protozoa which causes serious ocular problem. Acanthamoeba keratitis is becoming more prevalent amongst contact lens wearers and it can cause loss of vision and blindness if not treated properly. The objective of this research is to determine the effectiveness of gentamicin against six Acanthamoeba spp. isolates, of which three were clinical isolates (HS 6, HKL 95, HTH 73) and three environmental isolates (SMAL 7, SMAL 8, TTT 9). Cyst suspension from the chosen isolates were exposed to gentamicin. After 48 hours of incubation at temperature of 30°C and 37ºC, each mixture was filtered and filtration membrane was put onto non-nutrient agar laid with Escherichia coli. The agar plates were incubated for three days at 30oC and 37oC and the plates were examined daily until day 14 to look for the presence of Acanthamoeba trophozoites under inverted microscope. The presence of trophozoites indicated the ineffectiveness of gentamicin. Gentamicin was found to be effective against Acanthamoeba cysts from all the test strains at both incubation temperatures. The minimum cysticidal concentration (MCC) mean value of gentamicin was 0.193 mg/mL at 30oC and 0.229 mg/mL at 37oC. So, we concluded that gentamicin has cysticidal potential towards Acanthamoeba.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Acanthamoeba is an ubiquitous free-living protozoa which causes serious ocular problems. Acanthamoeba keratitis is becoming more prevalent amongst contact lens wearers. The disease can cause loss of vision and blindness if not treated properly. The objective of this research is to study the sensitivity of six Acanthamoeba spp. isolates, of which three were from the clinical isolates (HKL 95, HTH 40 and HS 6) and the remaining three from environmental isolates (TTT 9, TL 3 and SMAL 8) to antimicrobial agents. Methods: The antimicrobial agents chosen for this purpose were polyhexamethylene biguanide and chlorhexidine. Cyst suspensions from the chosen isolates were exposed to PHMB and chlorhexidine respectively. After 48 hours incubation time at 30°c,each mixture was filtered and filtration membrane was put onto non-nutrient agar laid with Escherichia coli. The agar plates were incubated for three days at 30°c and examined daily until day 14 to detect the presence of Acanthamoeba trophozoites under the inverted microscope. The presence of thropozoites indicated the ineffectiveness of the antimicrobial agents. Results: Both of the antimicrobial agents tested were found to be effective against Acanthamoeba cysts from all the test starins. Polyhexamethylene biguanide gave minimum cysticidal concentration (MCC) mean value of 2.848mg/mL while chlorhexidine showed MCC mean value at a concentration of 3.988mg/mL. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the Acanthamoeba were sensitive to polyhexamethylene biguanide and chlorhexidine.
ABSTRACT
Primary toxoplasmosis is usually subclinical, but in severely immunocompromised patients it may be life-threatening. For this reason, it could be important to monitor situations related to non-noticeable diseases among foreign arrivals in a country. In this study, we aimed to survey toxoplasmosis among migrants from Indian subcontinent to Malaysia. In a prospective, observational study, a serological evaluation on toxoplasmosis among 91 migrants from Indian Subcontinent in Malaysia was conducted in a plantation and a detention camp. We used study subject information sheet for demographic information and venous blood samples for serological study to determine Toxoplasma gondii IgG and IgM antibodies. The control group was composed of 198 local Malaysians working in the same plantation and detention camp. The age of study participants ranged from 19-45 years [geometric mean 29.9]. Except for the Nepalese, none of these migrants from the Indian Subcontinent were positive for IgM. IgG positive rates among the Nepalese, Indians and Pakistani were 46.2%, 6.6% and 5.9% respectively. All workers from Sri Lanka had 0.0% prevalence rate for both IgG and IgM. The prevalence rates of 44.9% was significantly [p <0.001] higher among local Malaysian workers when compared to migrant workers [18.8%]. No significant difference in the prevalence rates was noted among the migrants or local workers when they were grouped according to agricultural and non-agricultural occupations. Our data demonstrate that, with the exception of Nepalese population, there is a low frequency of toxoplasmosis infection among migrants from Indian subcontinent to Malaysia. A routine screening for toxoplasmosis may be indicated for sub-groups of migrants in this country