Alkylphosphocholines and quaternary ammonium compounds against Acanthamoeba keratitis

Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) is a sight threatening infection caused by the free-living amoeba Acanthamoeba. This infection is largely associated with contact lens wear and the recent increase in AK incidences highlights the ineffectiveness of existing curative and preventative treatments. Current curative and protective treatments being active in part, only against the infective trophozoites and often inducing their conversion to the protective cysts is a major issue, particularly when the latter are the main cause of disease resurgences and relapses. These point to the need for the discovery of new drugs for curative and preventive treatments. Two structurally similar chemical classes, alkylphosphocholines (APCs) and quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) that address these issues will be discussed in this review.