acanthamoeba keratitis (ak) is a sight-threating infection of the cornea that mostly affects contact lens wearers. until now, ak treatment remains very difficult due to the existence of a highly resistant cyst stage in the life cycle of acanthamoeba which is extremely resistant to most of the available anti-amoebic compounds. moreover, current treatment of ak is usually based in the combination...

Biguanide poisoning is associated with lactic acidosis. The exact mechanism of biguanide-induced lactic acidosis is not well understood. In the previous issue of Critical Care, Protti and colleagues demonstrated that biguanide-induced lactic acidosis may be due in part to a reversible inhibition of mitochondrial respiration. Thus, in the absence of an antidote, increased drug elimination throug...

Various biguanide derivatives are used as antihyperglycemic and antimalarial drugs (e.g., 1,1-dimethyl biguanide (metformin), phenylethyl biguanide (phenformin), N-(4-chlorophenyl)-N'-(isopropyl)-imidodicarbonimidic diamide (proguanil)); however, no common mechanism has been suggested in these controversial therapeutic actions. Biguanides bind endogenous metals that inhibit cysteine proteases i...

BACKGROUND: Gauze dressing continues to be the most commonly used wound dressing. However, because of its porous structure it is not a barrier to bacterial penetration. Binding an antimicrobial agent to the gauze fibers may prevent bacterial migration through the gauze and thus allow gauze to become a bacterial barrier. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of gauze treate...

Human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide particularly in Asia. Deregulation of cellular energetics was recently included as one of the cancer hallmarks. Compounds that target the mitochondria in cancer cells were proposed to have therapeutic potential. Biguanide drugs which inhibit mitochondrial complex I and repress mTOR signaling are clinically use...