Figure 5.

Cyst survival assay shows the ability of cysts to excystate after the effect of various concentrations of six different compounds in an A. castellanii culture. The cyst survival was measured indirectly as the staining can only detect trophozoites. Cell density was determined by optical scanning of crystal violet staining (absorbance) at three-time points (24, 48, and 72 h). Unpaired t-test was used to compare each concentration against the control (0), at the 72 h time point (bold: p-value < 0.05). All tested inhibitors, except brinzolamide and Fc4-584B, were discovered to decrease the ability of the cysts to transform into trophozoites. Propamidine is presented as percentage values because the eye drop used is 0.1% concentration. The number of sample replicates were 11 for acetazolamide, 11 for brinzolamide, 15 for dorzolamide, 6 for ethoxzolamide, 7 for Fc14-584B and 6 for propamidine. Whiskers represent standard deviation (SD).