%0 Journal Article %A Siddiqui, Ruqaiyyah %A Syed, Abdul %A Tomas, Salvador %A Prieto-Garcia, Jose %A Khan, Naveed Ahmed %T Effect of free versus liposomal-complexed pentamidine isethionate on biological characteristics of Acanthamoeba castellanii in vitro %D 2009 %J Journal of Medical Microbiology, %V 58 %N 3 %P 327-330 %@ 1473-5644 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/jmm.0.006494-0 %K HBMECs, human brain microvascular endothelial cells %I Microbiology Society, %X Acanthamoeba is an opportunistic protozoan pathogen that can cause blinding keratitis and a rare but fatal encephalitis involving the central nervous system with a very poor prognosis. This is due to limited availability of effective anti-acanthamoebic drugs. Here, we tested whether the use of liposomes can improve the potency of pentamidine isethionate, an anti-amoebic compound. The liposomes consisted of l-α-phosphatidylcholine and cholesterol or ergosterol in a molar ratio of 1 : 5. Pentamidine isethionate was incorporated to achieve a final drug to lipid ratio of 1 : 5. At a drug concentration of 10 μg ml−1, the liposomal drug was >12 times more effective than the free drug at preventing Acanthamoeba binding to human cells and significantly more effective in reducing parasite-mediated human cell cytopathogenicity, compared with the drug alone. Both the free and liposomal drug blocked Acanthamoeba encystation. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/jmm.0.006494-0