Anti-Acanthamoeba effect of Camellia sinensis extract (black and green tea) in vitro

Acanthamoeba is a resistant protozoan that causes severe diseases, such as GAE and CAK. Because many medications are ineffective on the parasite, the quest to find alternative drugs is in progress.

This research was aim13 ed to assess the performance of the black and green tea extracts on Acanthamoeba.

The clinical isolate of Acanthamoeba was cultured on non-nutrient agar plates. The black and green tea extracts were prepared via maceration, dried by rotary evaporation, and stored at 4 °C. The main component of the extracts (caffeine) was recognized using GC-MS analysis. The effects of three concentrations of black and green tea extracts were evaluated on the parasite and compared with the control and current drug.

Black and green tea extracts have lethal effects on Acanthamoeba cysts and the performance was more than that shown by the control and the current anti-keratitis drug. Moreover, the effectiveness of the tea extracts was tim 25 e- and dose-dependent (P < 0.0001). There was no significant differences between the performance of black and green tea (P > 0.05).

Black 13 and green tea extracts demonstrated the potential to inhibit the Acanthamoeba parasite, but the use of tea extract in clinical applications requires further study.