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Frontiers in Immunology 2022mutations are known to predispose patients to phaeohyphomycosis caused by different dematiaceous fungal species. In this study, we report for the first time a patient... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
mutations are known to predispose patients to phaeohyphomycosis caused by different dematiaceous fungal species. In this study, we report for the first time a patient of chromoblastomycosis caused by , who harbored mutation. Through a series of and studies, especially a comparative transcriptome study, we compared this case with our former patient suffering from phaeohyphomycosis caused by . We showed that is prone to forming sclerotic bodies both and in knockout mice, and has a stronger immunogenicity than . These data preliminary demonstrated that besides host defense, fungal specificity also contributed to the clinical phenotype in deficient patients with dematiaceous fungal infections.
Topics: Animals; CARD Signaling Adaptor Proteins; Candidiasis, Chronic Mucocutaneous; Chromoblastomycosis; Disease Susceptibility; Humans; Mice; Mice, Knockout; Phaeohyphomycosis; Transcriptome
PubMed: 36159827
DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.984093 -
Cureus Aug 2022Cutaneous chromoblastomycosis is a chronic subcutaneous fungal disease of the skin caused by , especially by , ,and species affecting the skin, lungs, intestines,...
Cutaneous chromoblastomycosis is a chronic subcutaneous fungal disease of the skin caused by , especially by , ,and species affecting the skin, lungs, intestines, stomach, and central nervous system. It is treated using itraconazole in mild cases and amphotericin B in severe cases. A six-year-old female child presented to the Dermatology Outpatient Department with pigmented brown to blackish tanned plaques and verrucous lesions on the face and extremities. These lesions were present for the past two and a half years and were slowly enlarging and involving other areas like the trunk. The lesions were proven on biopsy to be cutaneous blastomycosis. The patient was put on infusions of amphotericin B in a calculated pediatric dose. Her blood pressure and renal function tests were checked daily to avoid any electrolyte derangements, nephrotoxicity, and systemic infusion reactions caused by amphotericin B. Amphotericin B reduced the size of the cutaneous lesions, and treatment response was assessed on regular follow-ups. Chromoblastomycosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis to enable timely treatment and to prevent its lethal complications such as epidermoid carcinoma. Treatment should continue for two to three months until histopathology is negative to ensure complete eradication.
PubMed: 36158439
DOI: 10.7759/cureus.28286 -
Journal of Fungi (Basel, Switzerland) Sep 2022Patients with chromoblastomycosis (CBM) suffer chronic tissue lesions that are hard to treat. Considering that biofilm is the main growth lifestyle of several pathogens...
Patients with chromoblastomycosis (CBM) suffer chronic tissue lesions that are hard to treat. Considering that biofilm is the main growth lifestyle of several pathogens and it is involved with both virulence and resistance to antimicrobial drugs, we have investigated the ability of CBM fungi to produce this complex, organized and multicellular structure. and conidial cells were able to adhere on a polystyrene abiotic substrate, differentiate into hyphae and produce a robust viable biomass containing extracellular matrix. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed the tridimensional architecture of the mature biofilms, revealing a dense network of interconnected hyphae, inner channels and amorphous extracellular polymeric material. Interestingly, the co-culture of each fungus with THP-1 macrophage cells, used as a biotic substrate, induced the formation of a mycelial trap covering and damaging the macrophages. In addition, the biofilm-forming cells of and were more resistant to the conventional antifungal drugs than the planktonic-growing conidial cells. The efflux pump activities of and biofilms were significantly higher than those measured in conidia. Taken together, the data pointed out the biofilm formation by CBM fungi and brought up a discussion of the relevance of studies about their antifungal resistance mechanisms.
PubMed: 36135688
DOI: 10.3390/jof8090963 -
JAAD Case Reports Oct 2022
PubMed: 36117779
DOI: 10.1016/j.jdcr.2022.07.047 -
Frontiers in Immunology 2022-related inherited immune disorders are a major risk factor for chronic disseminated fungal infection. In addition to pathogens of and dermatophytes, the environmental...
-related inherited immune disorders are a major risk factor for chronic disseminated fungal infection. In addition to pathogens of and dermatophytes, the environmental opportunists of the black yeast-like fungi are relatively frequent in this patient cohort. Particularly the genus is overrepresented. We investigated two isolates of a strain of residing in a patient, sampled with a period of ten years apart. Genomes, melanization and antifungal susceptibility of progenitor and derived strains were compared, and potential adaptation to the host habitat was investigated with proteomic techniques using post-translational modification as a proxy. Global lactylation analysis was performed using high accuracy nano-LC-MS/MS in combination with enrichment of lactylated peptides from digested cell lysates, and subsequent peptide identification. The genome of the derived isolate had accumulated 6945 SNPs, of which 31 were detected in CDS. A large number of identified proteins were significantly enriched, e.g. in melanin biosynthesis. A total of 636 lactylation sites on 420 lactylated proteins were identified, which contained in 26 types of modification motifs. Lysine lactylation (Kla) was found in 23 constituent proteins of the ribosome, indicating an impact of Kla in protein synthesis. Twelve lactylated proteins participated in pathogenicity. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis suggested that protein lactylations are widely distributed influencing various biological processes. Our findings reveal widespread roles for lysine lactylation in regulating metabolism and melanin biosynthesis in black fungi. Several large rearrangements and inversions were observed in the genome, but genomic changes could not be linked to adaptation or to known clinically relevant properties of progenitor to derived isolate; antifungal susceptibility had largely remained unaltered.
Topics: Antifungal Agents; CARD Signaling Adaptor Proteins; Humans; Immune System Diseases; Lysine; Melanins; Phialophora; Protein Processing, Post-Translational; Proteomics; Tandem Mass Spectrometry
PubMed: 36003392
DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.966457 -
Frontiers in Microbiology 2022is a neotenic cave salamander, endemic to the Dinaric Karst and a symbol of world natural heritage. It is classified as "vulnerable" by the International Union for...
is a neotenic cave salamander, endemic to the Dinaric Karst and a symbol of world natural heritage. It is classified as "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and is one of the EU priority species in need of strict protection. Due to inaccessibility of their natural underground habitat, scientific studies of the olm have been conducted mainly in captivity, where the amphibians are particularly susceptible to opportunistic microbial infections. In this report, we focused on the diversity of cultivable commensal fungi isolated from the skin of asymptomatic and symptomatic animals obtained from nature (20 specimens) and captivity (22 specimens), as well as from underground water of two karstic caves by direct water filtration and by exposure of keratin-based microbial baits and subsequent isolation from them. In total 244 fungal isolates were recovered from the animals and additional 153 isolates were obtained from water samples. Together, these isolates represented 87 genera and 166 species. Symptomatic animals were colonized by a variety of fungal species, most of them represented by a single isolate, including genera known for their involvement in chromomycosis, phaeohyphomycosis and zygomycosis in amphibians: , , , , , , , and . One symptomatic specimen sampled from nature was infected by the oomycete , the known causative agent of saprolegniosis. This is the first comprehensive report on cultivable skin mycobiome of this unique amphibian in nature and in captivity, with an emphasis on potentially pathogenic fungi and oomycetes.
PubMed: 35910647
DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.926558 -
Veterinary Dermatology Oct 2022Phaeohyphomycosis was diagnosed in a 6-year-old, male castrated Dachshund on immunosuppressive treatment. The fungus was identified by culture and PCR as Phialophora...
Phaeohyphomycosis was diagnosed in a 6-year-old, male castrated Dachshund on immunosuppressive treatment. The fungus was identified by culture and PCR as Phialophora americana. This is the first reported case of infection with this pathogen in a dog. The infection was successfully managed medically, without surgical intervention.
Topics: Animals; Dog Diseases; Dogs; Male; Phaeohyphomycosis; Phialophora
PubMed: 35641851
DOI: 10.1111/vde.13096 -
JFMS Open Reports 2022A 10-year-old male neutered domestic shorthair cat from Quilmes (Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina) presented at the Infectious Diseases and Parasitology Unit with a...
CASE SUMMARY
A 10-year-old male neutered domestic shorthair cat from Quilmes (Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina) presented at the Infectious Diseases and Parasitology Unit with a hyperpigmented nodule of 5 cm diameter on the nasal plane with a small ulceration of more than 1 year's evolution. A scaly and hyperpigmented alopecic lesion of 3 cm in diameter was found on the lower edge of the tail. The patient was under immunosuppressive therapy with corticosteroids for lymphoplasmacytic duodenitis. Samples of the lesion present on the nasal plane were taken under a surgical procedure. In the wet mount preparations, pigmented irregular hyphae were observed. They developed dark colonies when cultured on Sabouraud medium. On micromorphology, structures compatible with species were identified. PCR and sequencing of (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) confirmed as the etiologic agent. A therapeutic scheme that included a combination of itraconazole oral solution (1.5 mg/kg PO q12h) with terbinafine (30 mg/kg PO q24h) was indicated for a period of 10 months. The patient died of complications resulting from its underlying disease.
RELEVANCE AND NOVEL INFORMATION
As far as the authors are aware, this is the first study to report as an etiologic agent of phaeohyphomycosis in cats. In this case study, the species was identified using molecular tests.
PubMed: 35281676
DOI: 10.1177/20551169221077611 -
Journal of Fungi (Basel, Switzerland) Jan 2022Neutrophils are the first leukocytes recruited to the site of infection and are thought to be responsible for fungal elimination from the skin such as dermatophytes....
Neutrophils are the first leukocytes recruited to the site of infection and are thought to be responsible for fungal elimination from the skin such as dermatophytes. Neutrophils are able to secrete reactive oxygen species (ROS) and neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) that can kill different fungi, including , spp., , and . However, NET production in response to , the main etiologic agent of dermatophytosis, has yet to be studied. We demonstrated that human neutrophils produce NETs against different morphotypes of in a dose-dependent manner and NET formation is dependent on ROS production. In addition, ROS production by human neutrophils in response to is dependent on NADPH oxidase, but not on fungal viability. NETs mediated killing of Collectively, these results demonstrate that was able to trigger the production of NETs, suggesting that these extracellular structures may represent an important innate immune effector mechanism controlling physiological response to infection.
PubMed: 35205902
DOI: 10.3390/jof8020147 -
Plants (Basel, Switzerland) Dec 2021adopts a tolerant strategy as a metal excluder to survive toxic metal concentrations. Biodiversity and the endophytic fungal community colonizing the roots were...
adopts a tolerant strategy as a metal excluder to survive toxic metal concentrations. Biodiversity and the endophytic fungal community colonizing the roots were assessed from a mining area (MA) and a neighboring non-mining area (nMA) in southwestern China. All roots formed fully developed dark septate endophytes (DSEs) and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). Total DSE colonization was higher for the MA versus nMA, in contrast to the total AMF colonization in the two sites. The DSE colonization was higher than AMF colonization regardless of the site. Pure-culture data showed that the fungi closely related to , and dominantly colonized the roots. A total of 450 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were identified showing the presence of a distinct fungal community in MA and nMA, which was shaped by soil physiochemical properties, including soil Zn concentrations and organic matter. We found that accumulates and adapts efficiently to local endophytic fungi to achieve the expansion of its community, including the spontaneously reclaimed DSE. This property may be targeted to achieve its colonization with a pioneer plant for phytoremediation in the restoration of a vegetation cover in a metal-contaminated area.
PubMed: 34961202
DOI: 10.3390/plants10122731