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Pivot Concepts:
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Target Concepts:
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Query: UMLS:C0022568 (
keratitis
)
5,133
document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)
Objective: To define the best conditions for amniotic membrane preparation, storage and banking in its use for corneal reconstruction. Methods: Amniotic membrane pieces were prepared under sterile conditions from placentas selected on the basis of donor medical and social history, serology, microbiological tests and histology. The pieces were kept at -140 degrees C but before grafting they were thawed and stored at 4 degrees C in
RPMI
medium, to have a preparation usable within 72 h. This procedure was validated by testing its therapeutic effectiveness in 25 patients 13 of which had corneal ulcers of various origin, 3 had sequelae of herpes simplex
keratitis
, 3 band keratopathy and 6 corneal stem cell deficiency due to chemical or thermal burns. Results: The preparation showed appreciable anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects. In the absence of corneal stem cell deficiency a stable re-epithelialisation was achieved in 15 out of 19 patients. When the limbus was lesioned, the amniotic membrane decreased vascularization and increased the number of corneal epithelial cells only in 1 of the 6 patients. No adverse reactions attributable to the tissue were recorded. Conclusions: A ready-to-use amniotic membrane preparation stored at 4 degrees C after cryopreservation has been tested in corneal reconstruction. Like the amniotic membrane thawed immediately before grafting, this preparation displayed full therapeutic effect in epithelial defects with stromal ulceration but without severe limbal stem cell deficiency. In two years banking activity 463 pieces of the preparation were successfully distributed to 90 Italian hospitals.
...
PMID:Further evaluation of amniotic membrane banking for transplantation in ocular surface diseases. 1525 13
Acanthamoeba has 22 genotypes with the T4 genotype being the main causative agent of amoebic granulomatous encephalitis and
keratitis
. Because the molecular mechanisms of the immune defenses of neutrophils and macrophages against histoparasites are based on oxidative stress, parasites may rely on their antioxidant systems to preclude immune defenses. Therefore, understanding of the effect of oxidative stress on vital characteristics of Acanthamoeba castellanii (T4 genotype) and the antioxidant defense responses of Acanthamoeba to oxidative status will cast light on immune cell-parasite interactions. Acanthamoeba T4 cells were cultured in
RPMI
-1640 medium containing different concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (H
2
O
2
). The survival of Acanthamoeba was evaluated by MTT assay and the IC50 concentration was calculated. The total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of the parasite was determined by the cupric reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC) method. Malondialdehyde (MDA) as a marker of lipid peroxidation, protein carbonyl content as a measure of oxidized protein, total thiol (-SH) groups present on proteins as a major source of cellular antioxidants, and total oxidant status (TOS) were evaluated by colorimetric methods. The reactive oxygen species level increased markedly after induction of oxidative stress by the treatment of Acanthamoeba T4 with H
2
O
2
. Exposure to H
2
O
2
also significantly increased the MDA and protein carbonyl content. The TOS level and total thiol groups also increased in the treated group compared to those in untreated parasites, although the results were not statistically significant. The TAC level was found to be significantly higher in H
2
O
2
-treated parasites, confirming that the parasite fosters its total antioxidant capacity to overcome oxidative conditions. This study showed that under oxidative stress, the defense reactions of the parasite are in part mediated by increasing its antioxidant activity, which is important for the survival of the parasite.
...
PMID:Effect of oxidative stress on vital indicators of Acanthamoeba castellanii (T4 genotype). 2998 13
Aspergillus tamarii
appears to be an emerging aetiological agent of human keratomycoses in South India. The investigated strains were isolated from six suspected fungal
keratitis
patients attending a tertiary care eye hospital in Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu, India), and were initially identified by the microscopic examinations of the scrapings and the cultures. Our data suggest that
A. tamarii
could be easily overlooked when identification is carried out based on morphological characteristics alone, while the sequence analysis of the calmodulin gene can be used successfully to recognize this species accurately. According to the collected clinical data, ocular trauma is a common risk factor for the infection that gradually developed from mild to severe ulcers and could be healed with an appropriate combined antifungal therapy. Antifungal susceptibility testing revealed that
A. tamarii
strains are susceptible to the most commonly used topical or systemic antifungal agents (i.e., econazole, itraconazole and ketoconazole) except for natamycin. Moreover, natamycin proved to be similarly less effective than the azoles against
A. tamarii
in our drug interaction tests, as the predominance of indifferent interactions was revealed between natamycin and econazole and between natamycin and itraconazole as well. Four and five isolates of
A. tamarii
were confirmed to produce cyclopiazonic acid (CPA) in
RPMI
-1640 - which is designed to mimic the composition of human extracellular fluids - and in yeast extract sucrose (YES) medium, respectively, which is a widely used culture medium for testing mycotoxin production. Although a ten times lower mycelial biomass was recorded in
RPMI
-1640 than in YES medium, the toxin contents of the samples were of the same order of magnitude in both types of media. There might be a relationship between the outcome of infections and the toxigenic properties of the infecting fungal strains. However, this remains to be investigated in the future.
...
PMID:Characterization of
Aspergillus tamarii
Strains From Human Keratomycoses: Molecular Identification, Antifungal Susceptibility Patterns and Cyclopiazonic Acid Producing Abilities. 3164 26
Acanthamoeba
causes severe diseases such as Granulomatous Amebic Encephalitis (GAE) and
Acanthamoeba
keratitis
(AK). Improving the culture media classically used for this amoeba could help to identify it quickly and facilitate its study as a biological model. The purpose of this study was to compare the growth of two
Acanthamoeba
genotypes (T3 and T4) in several culture media.
Acanthamoeba griffini
(T3 genotype) and
Acanthamoeba castellanii
(T4 genotype) were cultured in PYG, TSY, TYI-S-33,
RPMI
, and
RPMI
-FBS medium. The number of amoebas grown in different culture media was counted and compared to each other for 14 days. Findings in this research revealed the highest growth in
RPMI
-FBS medium. For this reason, we can recommend this culture medium to promote the growth of
Acanthamoeba
in its biological studies.
...
PMID:Growth comparison of
Acanthamoeba
genotypes T3 and T4 in several culture media. 3298 75
