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Twenty-Five Years in Mucormycosis Research: A Themed Issue Honoring the...
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Twenty-Five Years in Mucormycosis Research: A Themed Issue Honoring the Contributions of Professor Dimitrios P. Kontoyiannis

A special issue of Journal of Fungi (ISSN 2309-608X). This special issue belongs to the section "Fungal Pathogenesis and Disease Control".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2024) | Viewed by 9101

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Sebastian Wurster

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Division of Internal Medicine, Department of Infectious Diseases, Infection Control and Employee Health, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
Interests: immune pathogenesis and immunotherapy of invasive mycoses (including mucormycosis); pathogenesis of inter-kingdom infections; immune biomarkers; preclinical infection models; epidemiological and clinical research in medical mycology
Dr. Teny John

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Division of Internal Medicine, Department of Infectious Diseases, Infection Control and Employee Health, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
Interests: diagnostic biomarkers in invasive fungal infections; molecular methods for disease diagnosis; breath metabolomics; diagnosis and management of invasive mold infections; epidemiology of mucormycosis especially Covid-19 associated mucormycosis

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Journal of Fungi is pleased to announce a Special Issue, “Twenty-five years of Mucormycosis Research: A Themed Special Issue Honoring the Contributions of Professor Dimitrios P. Kontoyiannis”.

Mucormycosis is among the most devastating opportunistic mold infections owing to its highly invasive nature, heterogenous and understudied pathogenesis in various host backgrounds (e.g., patients with uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, hematological malignancies, or COVID-19), and very high mortality in severely immunosuppressed patients. Reliable diagnostic biomarkers are lacking, as are novel antifungal agents with promising Mucorales activity. The increased awareness of the huge burden of mucormycosis and the critical unmet need for improved management strategies are highlighted by the inclusion of Mucorales in both the WHO fungal priority pathogens list and the NIAID emerging infectious diseases/pathogens priority list.

As a key opinion leader and driver of mucormycosis research, Dr. Dimitrios P. Kontoyiannis and his group have made sustained and impactful contributions to our current understanding of the epidemiology, risk factors, immunopathogenesis, diagnosis, and therapy of mucormycosis over the last 25 years. Such experimental and clinical research has pivotally contributed to individualized risk stratification, early and accurate diagnosis, preemptive therapy, and novel therapies that have improved the outcome of patients with mucormycosis. For his work, Dr. Kontoyiannis has received numerous prestigious awards from medical societies worldwide.

Dr. Dimitrios Kontoyiannis currently holds the Robert C. Hickey Endowed Chair in Clinical Care, is the Deputy Division Head of Internal Medicine and a Professor of Medicine in the Department of Infectious Diseases at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and is the leader of MD Anderson’s Medical Mycology Research Center. He has authored over 670 peer-reviewed articles, editorials, and book chapters on mycology and infectious diseases, which have received over 65,500 citations, making him one of the top 1% most highly cited and influential researchers worldwide.

Perhaps Dr. Kontoyiannis’ greatest contribution in academic medicine stems from mentoring and shaping the career of several junior colleagues in clinical medicine and experimental research. Many of his former mentees have become emerging leaders in medical mycology and hold prestigious faculty positions at universities worldwide. As a testimony to Dr. Kontoyiannis’ outstanding commitment to mentoring, two of his current junior faculty mentees in clinical and experimental mycology have teamed up to edit this Special Issue.

As part of this Special Issue, we welcome both original research articles and review articles on mucormycosis research and management, including, but not limited to, epidemiology, genetics, pathogenesis, experimental models, diagnosis and biomarkers, antifungal therapy, immunotherapy, and other investigational therapeutic avenues.

Dr. Sebastian Wurster
Dr. Teny John
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Fungi is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • mucormycosis
  • opportunistic mold infections
  • epidemiology
  • genetics
  • diagnosis

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research, Review

10 pages, 248 KiB  
Editorial
The Impact of Dimitrios P. Kontoyiannis on Mucormycosis Research
by Russell E. Lewis
J. Fungi 2024, 10(6), 382; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof10060382 - 27 May 2024
Viewed by 1262
Abstract
Dimitrios P [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Twenty-Five Years in Mucormycosis Research: A Themed Issue Honoring the Contributions of Professor Dimitrios P. Kontoyiannis)

Research

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21 pages, 5144 KiB  
Article
A Comprehensive Analysis of the Lipidomic Signatures in Rhizopus delemar
by Basharat Ali, Anshu Chauhan, Mohit Kumar, Praveen Kumar, Hans Carolus, Celia Lobo Romero, Rudy Vergauwen, Ashutosh Singh, Atanu Banerjee, Amresh Prakash, Shivaprakash M. Rudramurthy, Patrick Van Dijck, Ashraf S. Ibrahim and Rajendra Prasad
J. Fungi 2024, 10(11), 760; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof10110760 - 1 Nov 2024
Viewed by 2050
Abstract
Certain species of Mucorales have been identified as causative agents of mucormycosis, a rare yet often lethal fungal infection. Notably, these fungi exhibit intrinsic resistance to common azole drugs, which target lipids. Given the pivotal role of lipids in drug resistance and their [...] Read more.
Certain species of Mucorales have been identified as causative agents of mucormycosis, a rare yet often lethal fungal infection. Notably, these fungi exhibit intrinsic resistance to common azole drugs, which target lipids. Given the pivotal role of lipids in drug resistance and their contribution to innate resistance to azoles, this study provides a comprehensive overview of key lipid classes, including sphingolipids (SLs), glycerophospholipids (GPLs), and sterols, in Rhizopus delemar 99-880, a well-characterized reference strain among Mucorales. Using shotgun lipidomics as well as liquid- and gas-chromatography-based mass spectrometric analyses, we identified the lipid intermediates and elucidated the biosynthetic pathways of SLs, PGLs, and sterols. The acidic SLs were not found, probably because the acidic branch of the SL biosynthesis pathway terminates at α-hydroxy phytoceramides, as evident by their high abundance. Intermediates in the neutral SL pathway incorporated higher levels of 16:0 fatty acid compared to other pathogenic fungi. A strikingly high phosphatidylethanolamine (PE)/phosphatdylcholine (PC) ratio was observed among GPLs. Ergosterol remains the major sterol, similar to other fungi, and our analysis confirms the existence of alternate ergosterol biosynthesis pathways. The total lipidomic profile of R. delemar 99-880 offers insights into its lipid metabolism and potential implications for studying pathogenesis and drug resistance mechanisms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Twenty-Five Years in Mucormycosis Research: A Themed Issue Honoring the Contributions of Professor Dimitrios P. Kontoyiannis)
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Review

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28 pages, 2866 KiB  
Review
Gastrointestinal and Intra-Abdominal Mucormycosis in Non-Haematological Patients—A Comprehensive Review
by Benoît Henry, Alain Lefevre Utile, Stephane Jaureguiberry and Adela Angoulvant
J. Fungi 2025, 11(4), 298; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof11040298 - 9 Apr 2025
Viewed by 359
Abstract
Intra-abdominal and gastrointestinal mucormycosis are less frequent than rhino-orbito-cerebral and pulmonary mucormycosis, but highly lethal. Their diagnosis remains challenging due to the non-specific clinical presentation. We collected English-language cases of intra-abdominal and gastrointestinal mucormycosis in non-haematological and non-neonatal patients published up to October [...] Read more.
Intra-abdominal and gastrointestinal mucormycosis are less frequent than rhino-orbito-cerebral and pulmonary mucormycosis, but highly lethal. Their diagnosis remains challenging due to the non-specific clinical presentation. We collected English-language cases of intra-abdominal and gastrointestinal mucormycosis in non-haematological and non-neonatal patients published up to October 2024. This review analysed the epidemiological, clinical, and therapeutic charts of 290 cases. A proportion of 53.4% were reported from India and the USA. The main predisposing conditions were diabetes, solid organ transplant, ICU, and corticosteroid treatment. The most common site was the stomach (53.8%). Gastrointestinal perforation, skin breakdown, and abdominal wall infection were sources of intra-abdominal localisation. The most common symptoms were abdominal pain, vomiting, and gastrointestinal bleeding. The diagnosis relied on histology (93.8%), mycology with microscopy and culture (38.8%), and molecular methods (9.9%). Mortality (52.9%) was lower when treatment was intravenous amphotericin B, combined or not with surgery. Prompt treatment, essential for a favourable outcome, relies on early suspicion and diagnosis. Gastrointestinal and intra-abdominal mucormycosis should also be suspected in patients admitted in ICU with ventilation/nasogastric tube and corticosteroids and those with abdominal trauma or surgery, presenting abdominal distension, pain, and GI bleeding. Mycological diagnosis including direct examination, culture and Mucorales qPCR on tissue should assist with rapid diagnosis and thus treatment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Twenty-Five Years in Mucormycosis Research: A Themed Issue Honoring the Contributions of Professor Dimitrios P. Kontoyiannis)
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13 pages, 5027 KiB  
Review
Recent Advances in Diagnostic Approaches for Mucormycosis
by Jawad Safiia, Marco Aurelio Díaz, Hassan Alshaker, Christine J. Atallah, Paul Sakr, Dimitrios G. Moshovitis, Ahmad Nawlo, Andres E. Franceschi, Alexis Liakos and Sophia Koo
J. Fungi 2024, 10(10), 727; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof10100727 - 19 Oct 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2368
Abstract
Mucormycosis, an invasive fungal infection caused by members of the order Mucorales, often progresses fulminantly if not recognized in a timely manner. This comprehensive review discusses the latest developments in diagnostic approaches for mucormycosis, from traditional histopathology and culture-based methods to advanced and [...] Read more.
Mucormycosis, an invasive fungal infection caused by members of the order Mucorales, often progresses fulminantly if not recognized in a timely manner. This comprehensive review discusses the latest developments in diagnostic approaches for mucormycosis, from traditional histopathology and culture-based methods to advanced and emerging techniques such as molecular assays, imaging, serology, and metabolomics. We discuss challenges in the diagnosis of mucormycosis and emphasize the importance of rapid and accurate identification of this life-threatening infection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Twenty-Five Years in Mucormycosis Research: A Themed Issue Honoring the Contributions of Professor Dimitrios P. Kontoyiannis)
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15 pages, 339 KiB  
Review
Experimental Models to Study the Pathogenesis and Treatment of Mucormycosis
by Ronen Ben-Ami
J. Fungi 2024, 10(1), 85; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof10010085 - 22 Jan 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2357
Abstract
Mucormycosis presents a formidable challenge to clinicians and researchers. Animal models are an essential part of the effort to decipher the pathogenesis of mucormycosis and to develop novel pharmacotherapeutics against it. Diverse model systems have been established, using a range of animal hosts, [...] Read more.
Mucormycosis presents a formidable challenge to clinicians and researchers. Animal models are an essential part of the effort to decipher the pathogenesis of mucormycosis and to develop novel pharmacotherapeutics against it. Diverse model systems have been established, using a range of animal hosts, immune and metabolic perturbations, and infection routes. An understanding of the characteristics, strengths, and drawbacks of these models is needed to optimize their use for specific research aims. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Twenty-Five Years in Mucormycosis Research: A Themed Issue Honoring the Contributions of Professor Dimitrios P. Kontoyiannis)
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