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Expert Review of Respiratory Medicine Jul 2020Fungal infections are increasingly encountered in clinical practice due to more favorable environmental conditions and increasing prevalence of immunocompromised... (Review)
Review
INTRODUCTION
Fungal infections are increasingly encountered in clinical practice due to more favorable environmental conditions and increasing prevalence of immunocompromised individuals. The diagnostic approach for many fungal pathogens continues to evolve. Herein, we outline available diagnostic tests for the most common fungal infections with a focus on recent advances and future directions.
AREAS COVERED
We discuss the diagnostic testing methods for angioinvasive molds ( spp. and spp.), invasive yeast ( spp. and ssp.), Pneumocystis, and endemic fungi ( sp., Coccidioides sp., and Hitoplasma sp.). The PubMed-NCBI database was searched within the past 5 years to identify the most recent available literature with dates extended in cases where literature was sparse. Diagnostic guidelines were utilized when available with references reviewed.
EXPERT OPINION
Historically, culture and/or direct visualization of fungal organisms were required for diagnosis of infection. Significant limitations included ability to collect specimens and delayed diagnosis associated with waiting for culture results. Antigen and antibody testing have made great strides in allowing quicker diagnosis of fungal infections but can be limited by low sensitivity/specificity, cross-reactivity with other fungi, and test availability. Molecular methods have a rich history in some fungal diseases, while others continue to be developed.
Topics: Aspergillus; Blastomyces; Candida; Coccidioides; Cryptococcus; Histoplasma; Humans; Lung Diseases, Fungal; Mucor; Pneumocystis; Pneumonia
PubMed: 32290725
DOI: 10.1080/17476348.2020.1753506 -
Microbiology (Reading, England) Sep 2020is a lethal fungus disguised in a polysaccharide coat. It can remain dormant in the host for decades prior to reactivation, causing systemic cryptococcosis in humans... (Review)
Review
is a lethal fungus disguised in a polysaccharide coat. It can remain dormant in the host for decades prior to reactivation, causing systemic cryptococcosis in humans and other mammals. deploys a multitude of traits to adapt to and survive within the host, including immunosuppression, an ability to replicate intra- and extra-cellularly in phagocytes, changes in morphology and ploidy, a predilection to infect the CNS, and the capacity to utilize neurotransmitters and unique carbon sources available in the brain. These pathogenic strategies displayed by this fungus might have evolved through its interactions with microbial predators in the environment.
Topics: Adaptation, Physiological; Animals; Cryptococcosis; Cryptococcus neoformans; Genome, Fungal; Humans; Phylogeny; Virulence
PubMed: 32956032
DOI: 10.1099/mic.0.000973 -
International Journal of Environmental... Jun 2017Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by certain filamentous fungi (molds). These low molecular weight compounds (usually less than 1000 Daltons) are... (Review)
Review
Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by certain filamentous fungi (molds). These low molecular weight compounds (usually less than 1000 Daltons) are naturally occurring and practically unavoidable. They can enter our food chain either directly from plant-based food components contaminated with mycotoxins or by indirect contamination from the growth of toxigenic fungi on food. Mycotoxins can accumulate in maturing corn, cereals, soybeans, sorghum, peanuts, and other food and feed crops in the field and in grain during transportation. Consumption of mycotoxin-contaminated food or feed can cause acute or chronic toxicity in human and animals. In addition to concerns over adverse effects from direct consumption of mycotoxin-contaminated foods and feeds, there is also public health concern over the potential ingestion of animal-derived food products, such as meat, milk, or eggs, containing residues or metabolites of mycotoxins. Members of three fungal genera, , , and , are the major mycotoxin producers. While over 300 mycotoxins have been identified, six (aflatoxins, trichothecenes, zearalenone, fumonisins, ochratoxins, and patulin) are regularly found in food, posing unpredictable and ongoing food safety problems worldwide. This review summarizes the toxicity of the six mycotoxins, foods commonly contaminated by one or more of them, and the current methods for detection and analysis of these mycotoxins.
Topics: Aspergillus; Food Microbiology; Fusarium; Mycotoxins; Penicillium
PubMed: 28608841
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph14060632 -
Medical Mycology Journal 2022This review describes the changes in yeast species names in the previous decade. Several yeast species have been reclassified to accommodate the "One fungus=One name"... (Review)
Review
This review describes the changes in yeast species names in the previous decade. Several yeast species have been reclassified to accommodate the "One fungus=One name" (1F=1N) principle of the Code. As the names of medically important yeasts have also been reviewed and revised, details of the genera Candida, Cryptococcus, Malassezia, and Trichosporon are described in Section 3, along with the history of name changes. Since the phylogenetic positions of Candida species in several clades have not been clarified, revision of this species has not been completed. Among the species that remain unrevised despite their importance in the medical field, we propose the transfer of six Candida species to be reclassified in the Nakaseomyces clade, including Nakaseomyces glabratus and Nakaseomyces nivalensis.
Topics: Trichosporon; Malassezia; Cryptococcus; Candida; Phylogeny
PubMed: 36450564
DOI: 10.3314/mmj.22.004 -
Virulence Dec 2022Antifungal resistance to pathogens increases morbidity and mortality of immunosuppressive patients, an emerging crisis worldwide. Understanding the prevalence and... (Review)
Review
Antifungal resistance to pathogens increases morbidity and mortality of immunosuppressive patients, an emerging crisis worldwide. Understanding the prevalence and antifungal susceptibility pattern is necessary to control and treat candidiasis. We aimed to systematically analyse the susceptibility profiles of species published in the last ten years (December 2011 to December 2021) from mainland China. The studies were collected from PubMed, Google Scholar, and Science Direct search engines. Out of 89 included studies, a total of 44,716 isolates were collected, mainly comprising (49.36%), (21.89%), (13.92%), and (11.37%). The lowest susceptibility was detected for azole group; fluconazole susceptibilities against , and were 93.25%, 91.6%, 79.4%, 77.95%, 76%, 50%, and 0% respectively. Amphotericin B and anidulafungin were the most susceptible drugs for all species. Resistance to azole was mainly linked with mutations in , and genes. Mutation in and in and causing resistance to echinocandins was stated in two studies. Gaps in the studies' characteristics were detected, such as 79.77%, 47.19 %, 26.97%, 7.86%, and 4.49% studies did not mention the mortality rates, age, gender, breakpoint reference guidelines, and fungal identification method, respectively. The current study demonstrates the overall antifungal susceptibility pattern of species, gaps in surveillance studies and risk-reduction strategies that could be supportive in candidiasis therapy and for the researchers in their future studies.
Topics: Humans; Amphotericin B; Anidulafungin; Antifungal Agents; Azoles; Candida; Candida albicans; Candida glabrata; Candida parapsilosis; Candida tropicalis; Candidiasis; Echinocandins; Fluconazole; Microbial Sensitivity Tests
PubMed: 36120738
DOI: 10.1080/21505594.2022.2123325 -
Plant Biotechnology Journal Sep 2021Recent discoveries show that fungi can take up environmental RNA, which can then silence fungal genes through environmental RNA interference. This discovery prompted the...
Recent discoveries show that fungi can take up environmental RNA, which can then silence fungal genes through environmental RNA interference. This discovery prompted the development of Spray-Induced Gene Silencing (SIGS) for plant disease management. In this study, we aimed to determine the efficacy of SIGS across a variety of eukaryotic microbes. We first examined the efficiency of RNA uptake in multiple pathogenic and non-pathogenic fungi, and an oomycete pathogen. We observed efficient double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) uptake in the fungal plant pathogens Botrytis cinerea, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Rhizoctonia solani, Aspergillus niger and Verticillium dahliae, but no uptake in Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, and weak uptake in a beneficial fungus, Trichoderma virens. For the oomycete plant pathogen, Phytophthora infestans, RNA uptake was limited and varied across different cell types and developmental stages. Topical application of dsRNA targeting virulence-related genes in pathogens with high RNA uptake efficiency significantly inhibited plant disease symptoms, whereas the application of dsRNA in pathogens with low RNA uptake efficiency did not suppress infection. Our results have revealed that dsRNA uptake efficiencies vary across eukaryotic microbe species and cell types. The success of SIGS for plant disease management can largely be determined by the pathogen's RNA uptake efficiency.
Topics: Ascomycota; Botrytis; Colletotrichum; Gene Silencing; Plant Diseases; RNA Interference; RNA, Double-Stranded; Rhizoctonia
PubMed: 33774895
DOI: 10.1111/pbi.13589 -
Revista Chilena de Infectologia :... Aug 2019
Topics: Anti-Bacterial Agents; Aspergillus
PubMed: 31859778
DOI: 10.4067/S0716-10182019000400521 -
PeerJ 2022Moonlighting proteins represent an intriguing area of cell biology, due to their ability to perform two or more unrelated functions in one or many cellular compartments.... (Review)
Review
Moonlighting proteins represent an intriguing area of cell biology, due to their ability to perform two or more unrelated functions in one or many cellular compartments. These proteins have been described in all kingdoms of life and are usually constitutively expressed and conserved proteins with housekeeping functions. Although widely studied in pathogenic bacteria, the information about these proteins in pathogenic fungi is scarce, but there are some reports of their functions in the etiological agents of the main human mycoses, such as spp., , , , , and . In these fungi, most of the described moonlighting proteins are metabolic enzymes, such as enolase and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase; chaperones, transcription factors, and redox response proteins, such as peroxiredoxin and catalase, which moonlight at the cell surface and perform virulence-related processes, contributing to immune evasion, adhesions, invasion, and dissemination to host cells and tissues. All moonlighting proteins and their functions described in this review highlight the limited information about this biological aspect in pathogenic fungi, representing this a relevant opportunity area that will contribute to expanding our current knowledge of these organisms' pathogenesis.
Topics: Humans; Mycoses; Virulence; Paracoccidioides; Cryptococcus neoformans; Histoplasma
PubMed: 36117533
DOI: 10.7717/peerj.14001 -
Toxins Aug 2019Citrus are vulnerable to the postharvest decay caused by , , and , which are responsible for the green mold, blue mold, and sour rot post-harvest disease, respectively.... (Review)
Review
Citrus are vulnerable to the postharvest decay caused by , , and , which are responsible for the green mold, blue mold, and sour rot post-harvest disease, respectively. The widespread economic losses in citriculture caused by these phytopathogens are minimized with the use of synthetic fungicides such as imazalil, thiabendazole, pyrimethanil, and fludioxonil, which are mainly employed as control agents and may have harmful effects on human health and environment. To date, numerous non-chemical postharvest treatments have been investigated for the control of these pathogens. Several studies demonstrated that biological control using microbial antagonists and natural products can be effective in controlling postharvest diseases in citrus, as well as the most used commercial fungicides. Therefore, microbial agents represent a considerably safer and low toxicity alternative to synthetic fungicides. In the present review, these biological control strategies as alternative to the chemical fungicides are summarized here and new challenges regarding the development of shelf-stable formulated biocontrol products are also discussed.
Topics: Citrus; Fungicides, Industrial; Geotrichum; Penicillium; Pest Control, Biological
PubMed: 31390769
DOI: 10.3390/toxins11080460 -
Mycopathologia Oct 2021
Topics: Cryptococcosis; Cryptococcus gattii; Cryptococcus neoformans; Humans
PubMed: 34224075
DOI: 10.1007/s11046-021-00577-7