brimonidine-tartrate--timolol-maleate-drug-combination and Acanthamoeba-Keratitis

Efficient treatments against Acanthamoeba Keratitis (AK), remains until the moment, as an issue to be solved due to the existence of a cyst stage which is highly resistant to most chemical and physical agents. In this study, two antiglaucoma eye drops were tested for their activity against Acanthamoeba. Moreover, this study was based on previous data which gave us evidence of a possible link between the absences of Acanthamoeba at the ocular surface in patients treated with beta blockers for high eye pressure both containing timolol as active principle. The amoebicidal activity of the tested eye drops was evaluated against four strains of Acanthamoeba using Alamar blue method. For the most active drug the cysticidal activity against A. castellanii Neff cysts and further experiments studying changes in chromatin condensation levels, in the permeability of the plasmatic membrane, the mitochondrial membrane potential and the ATP levels in the treated amoebic strains were done. Even though both eye drops were active against the different tested strains of Acanthamoeba, statistical analysis revealed that one of them (Timolol Sandoz) was the most effective one against all the tested strains presenting IC

Topics: Acanthamoeba; Acanthamoeba Keratitis; Adrenergic alpha-2 Receptor Agonists; Adrenergic beta-Antagonists; Analysis of Variance; Apoptosis; Brimonidine Tartrate; Brimonidine Tartrate, Timolol Maleate Drug Combination; Glaucoma; Inhibitory Concentration 50; Intraocular Pressure; Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial; Ophthalmic Solutions; Timolol