Pathogenicity of Acanthamoeba and a Corynebacterium in the rat cornea
P. R. Badenoch, A. M. Johnson, P. E. Christy and D. J. Coster
Department of Ophthalmology, Flinders Medical Centre, Bedford Park, South Australia.
Acanthamoeba keratitis is a sight-threatening disease that is difficult to
treat. The development of an animal model is necessary for many of the
studies required to improve visual outcome in human patients. A rat model
is proposed that is dependent on coinoculation of amebae and corynebacteria
into the corneal stroma. The infective dose was determined for a virulent
Acanthamoeba isolate and was used to screen 17 other isolates, including 7
from the human cornea. A total of 6 were infective in the rat cornea. The
model should be useful for controlled in vivo studies of this intractable
condition.
