Review
Biology and pathogenesis of Acanthamoeba
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* Corresponding author: Naveed A Khan Naveed5438@gmail.com
1 The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
2 School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, England, UK
Parasites & Vectors 2012, 5:6 doi:10.1186/1756-3305-5-6
Published: 10 January 2012Abstract
Acanthamoeba is a free-living protist pathogen, capable of causing a blinding keratitis and fatal granulomatous encephalitis. The factors that contribute to Acanthamoeba infections include parasite biology, genetic diversity, environmental spread and host susceptibility, and are highlighted together with potential therapeutic and preventative measures. The use of Acanthamoeba in the study of cellular differentiation mechanisms, motility and phagocytosis, bacterial pathogenesis and evolutionary processes makes it an attractive model organism. There is a significant emphasis on Acanthamoeba as a Trojan horse of other microbes including viral, bacterial, protists and yeast pathogens.