Martín-Pérez Tania, Heredero-Bermejo Irene, Verdú-Expósito Cristina, Pérez-Serrano Jorge
Department of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, 28805 Madrid, Spain.
Pathogens. 2021 Apr 19;10(4):491. doi: 10.3390/pathogens10040491.
Ameobae belonging to the genus are responsible for the human diseases Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) and granulomatous amoebic encephalitis (GAE). The treatment of these illnesses is hampered by the existence of a resistance stage (cysts). In an attempt to add new agents that are effective against trophozoites and cysts, tea tree oil (TTO) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), separately and in combination, were tested In Vitro against two isolates, T3 and T4 genotypes. The oxygen consumption rate (OCR) assay was used as a drug screening method, which is to some extent useful in amoebicide drug screening; however, evaluation of lethal effects may be misleading when testing products that promote encystment. Trophozoite viability analysis showed that the effectiveness of the combination of both compounds is higher than when either compound is used alone. Therefore, the TTO alone or TTO + DMSO in combination were an amoebicide, but most of the amoebicidal activity in the combination's treatments seemed to be caused mainly by the TTO effect. In fact, DMSO alone seems to be a non-amoebicide, triggering encystment. Regarding cytotoxicity, these compounds showed toxicity in human corneal epithelial cells (HCEpiC), even at low concentrations when tested in combination. In conclusion, the use of TTO and DMSO, in combination or alone, cannot be recommended as an alternative for AK treatment until more cytotoxicity and cyst adhesion tests are performed.
属于该属的阿米巴原虫可引发人类疾病棘阿米巴角膜炎（AK）和肉芽肿性阿米巴脑炎（GAE）。这些疾病的治疗因存在抗性阶段（囊肿）而受阻。为了添加对滋养体和囊肿有效的新药物，分别对茶树油（TTO）和二甲基亚砜（DMSO）及其组合进行了体外测试，以对抗两种分离株，即T3和T4基因型。氧消耗率（OCR）测定用作药物筛选方法，该方法在某种程度上对杀阿米巴药物筛选有用；然而，在测试促进包囊形成的产品时，评估致死效应可能会产生误导。滋养体活力分析表明，两种化合物组合的有效性高于单独使用任何一种化合物时。因此，单独的TTO或TTO + DMSO组合是一种杀阿米巴剂，但组合处理中的大多数杀阿米巴活性似乎主要由TTO效应引起。事实上，单独的DMSO似乎是一种非杀阿米巴剂，会引发包囊形成。关于细胞毒性，这些化合物在人角膜上皮细胞（HCEpiC）中显示出毒性，即使在组合测试时低浓度下也是如此。总之，在进行更多的细胞毒性和囊肿粘附测试之前，不建议将TTO和DMSO单独或组合使用作为AK治疗的替代方法。
