Toxic effects of selected proprietary dry eye drops on Acanthamoeba

• Published in: Scientific reports 2018-06, Vol.8 (1), p.8520-9, Article 8520
• Main Authors: Sifaoui, Ines, Reyes-Batlle, María, López-Arencibia, Atteneri, Chiboub, Olfa, Rodríguez-Martín, Javier, Rocha-Cabrera, Pedro, Valladares, Basilio, Piñero, José E., Lorenzo-Morales, Jacob
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 13/106; 13/2; 13/31; 631/326/22/1294; 631/449/1870; Acanthamoeba; Acanthamoeba - metabolism; Amebiasis - drug therapy; Amebicides - pharmacology; Amoeba; Chromatin; Cysts; Disease; Dry Eye Syndromes - drug therapy; Dry Eye Syndromes - parasitology; Encephalitis; Eye; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Keratitis; Keratosis - drug therapy; Keratosis - parasitology; Membrane permeability; Membrane potential; Microscopy; Mitochondria; multidisciplinary; Ophthalmic Solutions - pharmacology; Proprietary; Regression analysis; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Sodium
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-26914-3

Amoebae of the genus Acanthamoeba are ubiquitous protists that have been isolated from many sources such as soils, water and the air. They are responsible for infections including fatal encephalitis and a severe keratitis in humans. To date, there is no satisfactorily effective therapeutic agent against this pathogen and the infections it causes are exacerbated by the existence of a resistant cyst stage produced by this amoeba. As dry eye syndrome is a risk factor for Acanthamoeba keratitis, we aimed to evaluate the anti- Acanthamoeba activity of a variety of proprietary eye drops intended to treat dry eye syndrome. From the nine eye drop formulations tested, “Systane Ultra” was determined to be the most active against all tested Acanthamoeba strains. During our investigations into the mode of action of Systane Ultra, we discovered that it decreases mitochondrial membrane potential and ATP levels, induces chromatin condensation, and increases the permeability of the plasma-membrane.