Research Projects

Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) is a life threatening infection of the cornea. Acanthamoeba gains access to a disrupted corneal epithelium either during trauma or surgery or usage of contact lens. In recent decades, the risk of getting AK has increased because of the increased proportion of contact lens wearers. AK is often misdiagnosed and treated as herpetic, bacterial, or mycotic keratitis, as many signs and symptoms may look similar to other kinds of keratitis. The routine Laboratory investigations includes- examination of double walled fluorescing cyst under fluorescent microscope (may lack sensitivity) and culture in non nutrient agar (longer incubation period). Moreover, Acanthamoeba has the ability to transform rapidly into dormant cyst forms, which may resist recommended levels of antimicrobial chemotherapy. Therefore, Exploration of understanding the virulence factors leading to devasting infection, genotypic identification of various strains of Acanthamoeba species and pathophysiology to find out various therapeutic interventions for AK which is almost impossible to establish a correlation between in vitro and in vivo efficacies is crucial to combat misdiagnosis and ineffective treatment modalities. Thus, the proposed study focuses on Molecular identification by genotyping of Acanthamoeba species leading to AK and invitro evaluation of antimicrobials against Trophozoites and cysts of genotyped Acanthamoeba clinical isolates to explore the pattern of drug resistance exhibited by various genotypes revealed from the study and paving way for the clinicians for appropriate management of AK.