Sight‐threatening infection of the eye due to opportunistic Acanthamoeba spp., which excrete proteases that degrade basement membranes and induce cytolysis as well as apoptosis of corneal cells. This finally culminates in the dissolution of the collagenous corneal stroma.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York
About this entry
Cite this entry
(2008). Acanthamoeba‐Keratitis. In: Mehlhorn, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Parasitology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-48996-2_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-48996-2_10
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-48994-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-48996-2
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences