Flow cytometry for determination of the efficacy of contact lens disinfecting solutions against Acanthamoeba spp.

Flow cytometric analyses of cellular staining with fluorescent viability dyes and direct microscopic observations of methylene blue exclusion were compared for evaluation of the effects of a chlorhexidine gluconate-based contact lens disinfectant solution and a polyhexamethylene biguanide solution against cysts and trophozoites of Acanthamoeba castellanii and Acanthamoeba polyphaga. The flow cytometric procedure with propidium iodide (used to stain dead cells) indicated that more than 90% of trophozoites of both species (inocula of 10(5) to 10(6)/ml) at 22 degrees C lost their viability after 4 h of exposure to chlorhexidine. When propidium iodide was used in combination with fluorescein diacetate (for live cells), the apparent number of propidium iodide-stained cells was reduced, but the relative efficacies of the two biguanide solutions appeared unchanged from those evident with the single dyes; the chlorhexidine solution was more effective than the polyhexamethylene biguanide solution. Similar data were obtained with the more cumbersome methylene blue exclusion procedure. Flow cytometric analyses provided a statistically reproducible and rapid procedure for determining the relative antiamoebal efficacies of the disinfecting solutions.