Mycoses
Pomegranate is a wonderful fruit from the paradise which contains a wide variety of precious phytochemical compounds applicable in the fields of therapeutics and health care. Candida albicans is the most common etiological agent for many clinical mycoses which could lead to human and animal death. Determination of the anticandidal activity of pomegranate peel extracts (PPE), and application of PPE...
Antifungal agents are often prescribed in critically ill patients who are receiving many other medications. When using systemic antifungals, clinicians may possess susceptibility data and they are typically aware of the potential toxicity of these agents. However, the myriad of potential drugs that antifungal agents can interact with is daunting and can be confusing. This article reviews the pharmacokinetic...
Tinea capitis is a fungal infection of the hair follicles of the scalp. In the US, the most common organisms have traditionally been Trichophyton tonsurans, and occasionally Microsporum canis. This study was designed to examine patterns of organisms causing tinea capitis and determine factors associated with infection. A retrospective database analysis was conducted to locate records of patients with...
We report a case of disseminated fusariosis in an 8‐year‐old boy with acute myelogenous leukaemia that occurred whilst the patient was severely neutropenic after high‐dose chemotherapy. Lung involvement was associated with recurrent typical skin lesions. Despite a significant clinical and radiological improvement with voriconazole‐based antifungal therapy, granulocyte transfusions (GTXs) and surgical...
Pulmonary zygomycosis is a relatively uncommon complication of solid organ or peripheral blood stem cell transplantation and has a high associated mortality. Optimal therapy consists of complete resection of infected tissue and treatment with amphotericin B (AmB). We describe two patients, one of whom underwent orthotopic heart transplantation and the other who received a peripheral blood stem cell...
A mycological study was undertaken in 488 patients suspected of onychomycosis in Isfahan, a large province of Iran, to gain more insight into the prevalence and aetiology of this infection. Direct microscopy of the nail clips was positive in 194 (39.8%) and fingernail onychomycosis was recognised in 141 (72.7%) and toenail onychomycosis in 53 (27.3%) cases. As agents of onychomycosis, yeast were detected...
The prevalence of allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) in chronic asthma has been reported in various studies. However, no study has systematically evaluated the occurrence of Aspergillus hypersensitivity (AH) and ABPA in acute severe asthma (ASA). The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of AH and ABPA in patients with ASA. All patients with ASA admitted to the respiratory...
Mueller–Hinton modified agar (MH‐GMB) was compared with RPMI + 2% glucose–agar to determine the MICs of 80 isolates of Cryptococcus neoformans and C. gattii to posaconazole with Etest. MH‐GMB minimised trailing and agreement between both media was 94%. Agreement of M27‐A2 microbroth reference method was 98% with RPMI and 94% with MB‐GMB.
In this study, exoantigens produced from two Paracoccidioides brasiliensis strains isolated in two different geographical areas were compared in terms of sensitivity and specificity in relation to paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) diagnosis. Exoantigens from P. brasiliensis 550B (Ag 550B) isolated in the central‐west region of Brazil (Mato Grosso State) and exoantigen produced from P. brasiliensis B‐339...
Post‐sternotomy infectious complications, including superficial and deep wound infections, sternal osteomyelitis and mediastinitis, are rarely caused by fungi. Trichosporon asahii is the main Trichosporon species that causes systemic infection in humans. Most cases involved neutropenic patients with hematologic malignancies. We report a unique case of a non‐cancer, non‐neutropenic but severely ill...
We describe the case of a 19‐year‐old boy with acute leukaemia who developed primary hepatic zygomycosis. The patient presented with febrile neutropenia and severe abdominal tenderness. Despite the administration of antibiotics and liposomal Amphotericin‐B (L‐AmB), the CT scan demonstrated an increase in the size of liver lesions. A wide surgical resection was carried out and liver specimens demonstrated...
Pathogenicity of fungi is connected with their ability to easily penetrate the host tissues, survive in the infected host organism and use the elements of the host tissues as nutrients. Hence, the co‐occurrence of pathogenic properties with the high enzymatic activity, which is manifested through the production of various enzymes including extracellular enzymes, was observed. It can be expected that...
Tatiane Caroline Daboit,
Cheila Denise Ottonelli Stopiglia,
Gilsane Lino Von Poser,
Maria Lúcia Scroferneker
Plants of the genus Pterocaulon (Asteraceae) are popularly used in the treatment of skin diseases caused by fungi and bacteria. The aim of this work was to investigate the in vitro activity of the crude methanolic extract obtained from the aerial parts of Pterocaulon alopecuroides (Lam.) against some agents of chromoblastomycosis, a chronic fungal infection of the skin and of the subcutaneous tissue...
Maria C. Gutierrez‐Galhardo,
Rosely M. Zancopé‐Oliveira,
Araceli Monzón,
Juan L. Rodriguez‐Tudela,
more
The susceptibility profile of 91 Sporothrix schenckii isolates in both growth phases was determined by microdilution test (Antifungal Susceptibility Testing of the European Committee for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing; AFST‐EUCAST). Amphotericin B (AMB), itraconazole (ITC), posaconazole, ravuconazole and terbinafine were found active in vitro against both phases but minimum inhibitory concentrations...
Oral candidiasis is the most prevalent complication in HIV‐infected and AIDS patients. Topical antifungal treatment is useful for the initial episodes of oral candidiasis, but most patients suffer more than one episode and fluconazole or itraconazole can help in the management, and voriconazole may represent a useful alternative agent for the treatment of recalcitrant oral and oesophageal candidiasis...
We report for the first time the environmental isolation of Cryptococcus neoformans from decaying wood and bark debris of living trees in Guindy National Park, Chennai, South India. Of the 40 trees screened, four isolates of Cryptococcus species were recovered of which two were Cryptococcus gattii, one was C. neoformans and one was untypable. The isolation of C. neoformans from Eucalyptus globulus...
The lungs are common sites for the occurrence of saprophytic or invasive mycosis as well as hydatid cysts. The two diseases seldom coexist, and the manifestation is seen as a fungal ball (usually aspergilloma) formed in the cavity left behind after hydatid cystectomy. Active invasion and proliferation of the fungi in the laminated ectocyst or sometimes the pericyst of the hydatid is very unusual....
Photodynamic therapy is a treatment that combines the use of three non‐toxic components, viz. photosensitiser, light and oxygen to cause localised oxidative photodamage. In the present study, the antifungal effect of the photosensitiser, BAM‐SiPc, an unsymmetrical bisamino phthalocyanine, was investigated. BAM‐SiPc was effective in photo‐inactivating Candida albicans in a dose‐dependent manner. The...