Search Results (12)

Superficial fungal infections (SFIs) remain a common dermatological issue in the pediatric population, with varying prevalence across regions and age groups. This study aimed to assess the epidemiology of SFIs among children and adolescents in northern Poland in the years 2019 to 2024. A retrospective analysis was conducted on 1237 patients under 18 years of age who underwent direct mycological examination and culture, due to suspicion of SFIs. Data were evaluated based on age, gender, infection site, fungal species identified, and place of residence. The prevalence of SFIs in the studied population was 21.4%. The most frequently isolated fungi were Microsporum canis and Trichophyton rubrum complex. Infection patterns varied by age: tinea capitis and tinea cutis glabrae predominated in younger children, while adolescents were more affected by tinea pedis and onychomycosis. A higher proportion of positive results was observed in rural patients, although more urban dwellers were tested. Species distribution also varied with gender and place of residence. No significant change in SFI prevalence or pathogen profile was observed over the study period. This study provides updated insights into the epidemiology of SFIs in Polish children, highlighting the influence of demographic and environmental factors. The findings underscore the importance of accurate diagnosis and suggest a need for further research into behavioral and socio-economic contributors to infection patterns. Full article

The investigation of the fungal etiologies of otomycoses is a rare occurrence in Senegal. The present study aspires to ascertain the profile of these mycoses within the confines of Ziguinchor. Conducted from 3 February 2021 to 31 August 2022, this retrospective descriptive study encompassed a total of 82 patients presenting with clinically suspected otomycosis within the otolaryngology (ENT) department of the Ziguinchor Peace Hospital (ZPH). In this study, two samples were collected from the external auditory canal (EAC) of each patient using sterile swabs. These samples were first observed by direct microscopy and then cultured at 30 °C on Sabouraud chloramphenicol with or without cycloheximide. The identification of the isolates was based on their macroscopic, microscopic, and physiological characteristics. The mycological examination was positive in 70 patients, with a prevalence of 85.37%. The most prevalent fungal isolates were Aspergillus section Nigri (30%), Aspergillus section Flavi (20%), and Candida albicans/Candida dubliniensis (10%). Of the clinical signs examined, auricular pruritus (p = 1.7033 × 10⁻⁶) was the only one to demonstrate a positive correlation with the onset of otomycosis. These results indicate that fungal agents play a significant role in the pathogenesis of otitis externa, underscoring the importance of mycological diagnosis in ensuring optimal patient management. Full article

Dermatophytosis, also known as Tinea infection, remains a significant interdisciplinary concern worldwide. This dermatophyte infection may be more serious in individuals with underlying somatic diseases, immunodeficiencies, endocrine disorders, or chronic illnesses. This study analyzed 313 patients with suspected dermatophytosis. Data were gathered through questionnaires and medical records were reviewed. Biological samples were cultured on Sabouraud dextrose agar, and PCR was employed to assess the genetic diversity of strains. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS version 26. The overall prevalence of dermatophytosis in the cohort was 30.4%. Among the cultured isolates, 73.7% were identified as Microsporum canis, while 26.3% were identified as Trichophyton species, including T. mentagrophytes, T. tonsurans, and T. verrucosum. Several factors were significantly associated with an increased risk of dermatophytosis, including the following: male gender (AOR = 1.97), age 1–10 years (AOR = 3.80), living in rural areas (AOR = 2.30), visiting public bathhouses (AOR = 2.32), visiting massage parlors (AOR = 1.39), contact with cats (AOR = 2.32), family history of dermatophytosis (AOR = 3.04), and sexual contact with an infected or unknown partner (AOR = 3.08). Dermatophytosis was identified in approximately one third of the patients by culture (30.4%), with the risk heightened in individuals under 10 years old (43.6%), those living in rural areas (33.3%), and those with a family history of dermatophytosis (35.7%) or close contact with cats (39.4%). The findings underscore the need for strengthened preventive measures and targeted diagnostics, particularly among high-risk groups. Full article

Background: This systematic review reports on treatments for onychomycosis in patients with diabetes and the drug interactions with other drugs in regard to the complicated diabetic patient profile. Methods: The recommendations in the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) checklist were applied and the included studies were evaluated using the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) statement and the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement. Searches were conducted in November 2023, using the PubMed (Medline), Scopus, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases; studies on antifungal treatments for onychomycosis in patients with diabetes were included. Two authors performed the study selection and data extraction, and any discrepancies between the two reviewers were resolved through discussions with a third reviewer. This review was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023442107). Results: The systematic review included 10 studies that met the selection criteria. Mycological cures for mild to moderate onychomycosis were: Ageratina pichinchensis (8.6%), 8% ciclopirox (8.6% 24 weeks and 54.3% 48 weeks), 10% efinaconazole (56.5–58.33%), terbinafine (73–76.6%), itraconazole (88.2%), and laser therapy (43.8%). No serious adverse effects or drug interactions were observed because patients with major complications, such as peripheral vascular disease, diabetic neuropathy, liver and renal dysfunction, poorly controlled diabetes, and severe onychomycosis, were excluded. Conclusions: The antifungal treatments described in the included studies are safe for patients with well-controlled diabetes, but there are currently no studies involving patients with diabetes and multiple complications, such as diabetic foot syndrome or severe onychomycosis. Thus, further research is needed in terms of this patient profile. Full article

The Pseudomonas genus includes ubiquitous bacteria frequently described as animal and human opportunistic pathogens. A 9-year-old cat was referred for rhinoscopy at the Veterinary Hospital of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, Portugal, for an investigation of the chronic respiratory signs. Upon rhinoscopy, nasal and nasopharyngeal discharge were observed, and the nasal turbinates showed signs of inflammation. The nasal biopsies were evaluated by histopathology and mycological and bacterial cultures. The histopathology revealed chronic lymphoplasmacytic inflammation. The mycological culture was negative, but the bacterial culture revealed the growth of a bacterial isolate in the pure culture, identified as P. aestus by the sequencing of a 1750 bp PCR amplicon obtained with BCR1 and BCR2 primers, followed by homologous sequences analysis using the NCBI database. The isolate’s susceptibility profile towards 14 antimicrobials was evaluated through the disk diffusion method, being observed that it presented a multidrug resistance profile. The studies available on this environmental Pseudomonas strain focused on its potential use for biocide production and application in agricultural settings, and, to the authors’ best knowledge, there are no reports describing its association with infectious diseases in humans or animals, highlighting the importance of establishing protocols aiming at the identification and characterization of non-traditional, multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas in the clinical setting. Full article

The development of edible coatings incorporating bioextracts from mushrooms native to Portuguese forests aims to enhance the value of the endogenous forest and mycological resources by harnessing their potential as a source of antimicrobial and antioxidant compounds. Edible coatings represent an important pathway to decreasing food waste and contributing to implementing a circular bioeconomy. The coating should result in product valorization through improved preservation/conservation, increased shelf life, as well as enhancement of its antioxidant and enzymatic properties. To evaluate the effectiveness of an edible coating on fungal food matrices, a 14-day shelf-life study was conducted, wherein both coated and untreated mushrooms were examined under controlled storage temperatures of 4 °C and 9.3 °C. Agaricus bisporus was chosen as the food matrix for its bioeconomy significance, and Pleurotus eryngii was selected for the preparation of the food-based coating due to its profile of bioactive compounds. Microbiological analysis and physicochemical monitoring were conducted on the food matrices and the coating. Coated mushrooms had less mass loss and color change, and had better texture after 14 days. Microbiological analysis revealed that the coating had no antimicrobial activity. Overall, the coating improved the shelf life of the coated mushrooms but had less effect on the microbial community. Full article

Infections affecting the superficial keratinized layer of the skin, nails, and hair are referred to as dermatophytosis and dermatomycoses, which constitute the most common type of fungal infection that affects people. This clinical ailment has a prevalence of between 30 and 60% and is more common in India’s hot, muggy, tropical climate. Examining the prevalence of superficial mycoses (SM), their clinical symptoms, and the fungal species that were identified as the disease-causing agents were the main objectives of the current study. This study comprised 250 clinically confirmed patients with SM who visited our dermatology department over the course of a year. Skin scrapings, nail clippings, and hair samples were gathered, mounted, and cultured using KOH. Macroscopic examination of culture, tease mount, and phenotypic tests were used to identify the species. The age group of 11–20 years (29%) had the highest prevalence of SM out of the 250 clinically verified cases of the condition that were included in our study, followed by 21–30 years (20%) and 31–40 years (18%). Candida albicans, dermatophytes, and non-dermatophytic moulds were the three most prevalent fungal isolates. The most typical dermatophyte isolate was T. rubrum, which was primarily found in Tinea corporis (TCo), Tinea cruris (TCr), and Tinea faciei (TFa). T. mentagrophytes was the second most frequent isolate. According to our investigation, it was determined that non-dermatophytic moulds constitute a significant contributor to the development of SM in addition to dermatophytes. Full article

Recently, Diaporthe has been considered the most frequently isolated genera of endophytic fungi, having a broad spectrum of host plants and a worldwide distribution. The endophytic Diaporthe strain used in the present work came from the Fungal Collection of Phytopathology and Mycology Subdepartment, University of Life Sciences in Lublin (Poland), and was isolated from healthy Prunus domestica shoots during previous studies. Due to the possibility of using the Diaporthe endophytes as a promising option for plant disease management, the main goal of the research was to study the antagonistic effect of endophytic Diaporthe strain against six phytopathogens: Verticillium dahliae, Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium avenaceum, F. sprotrichioides, Alternaria alternata, and Trichothecium roseum based on the dual culture assay and to determine the catabolic profile of the endophyte by using Biolog FF Plates. The dual-culture test assay revealed the ability of the endophytic Diaporthe to limit the growth of all tested pathogens. The growth inhibition percentage ranged from 20% (V. dahliae) to 40% (T. roseum). A distinct zone of inhibition occurred between the endophytic Diaporthe and the pathogens T. roseum, V. dahliae, and B. cinerea in the co-growth combinations. As for the catabolic profile results, the most intensive utilization of carbon substrates was observed after 168 h of incubation. The growth of the analyzed strain was observed on 79 media containing carbohydrates, carboxylic acids, amino acids, amines and amides, polymers, and others. The most effective decomposition was observed in the polymers group, the least in amines and amides. Molecular identification indicated that this strain was closely related to the Diaporthe eres species complex. Full article

The objective of this study was to assess the comparative efficacy and safety of different antifungal agents used for the treatment of oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC) in adult patients with HIV. A systematic search was performed on the four major databases (Medline, Embase, CENTRAL and Scopus) to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that evaluated the efficacy of antifungal agents in HIV patients with OPC. A network meta-analysis was performed from the data extracted from the selected studies. The agents were ranked according using surface under the cumulative ranking (SUCRA). The Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach was used to determine the quality of evidence. A total of 15 trials were included in the quantitative analysis involving the data from a total of 2883 participants. Fluconazole was ranked as the most effective antifungal agent to achieve clinical cure (SUCRA = 0.87) in OPC followed by posaconazole and itraconazole. Posaconazole was ranked the most efficacious agent in achieving mycological cure (SUCRA = 0.81), followed by fluconazole. While nystatin was ranked the safest, the effect estimates of none of the other systemic antifungal agents were significantly higher than fluconazole. Based on the available evidence, fluconazole can be considered as the most effective drug in the treatment of OPC among HIV-infected adults and has a favorable safety profile, followed by posaconazole. Full article

Dermatophytoses affect about 25% of the world population, and the filamentous fungus Trichophyton rubrum is the main causative agent of this group of diseases. Dermatomycoses are caused by pathogenic fungi that generally trigger superficial infections and that feed on keratinized substrates such as skin, hair, and nails. However, there are an increasing number of reports describing dermatophytes that invade deep layers such as the dermis and hypodermis and that can cause deep infections in diabetic and immunocompromised patients, as well as in individuals with immunodeficiency. Despite the high incidence and importance of dermatophytes in clinical mycology, the diagnosis of this type of infection is not always accurate. The conventional methods most commonly used for mycological diagnosis are based on the identification of microbiological and biochemical features. However, in view of the limitations of these conventional methods, molecular diagnostic techniques are increasingly being used because of their higher sensitivity, specificity and rapidity and have become more accessible. The most widely used molecular techniques are conventional PCR, quantitative PCR, multiplex PCR, nested, PCR, PCR-RFLP, and PCR-ELISA. Another promising technique for the identification of microorganisms is the analysis of protein profiles by MALDI-TOF MS. Molecular techniques are promising but it is necessary to improve the quality and availability of the information in genomic and proteomic databases in order to streamline the use of bioinformatics in the identification of dermatophytes of clinical interest. Full article

Onychomycosis is a fungal nails infection often caused by yeasts, dermatophytes and molds. It is an important public health concern due to its high prevalence, the problem of diagnostics, and the poor response to treatments. The objective of this study was to evaluate the epidemiological and microbiological profile of onychomycosis diagnosed at the Laboratory of Parasitology-Mycology of the National University Hospital of Fann in Dakar, Senegal, from 2012 to 2016. A retrospective and descriptive study was performed from January 2012 to December 2016 in a patient attending the laboratory of Parasitology-Mycology at the Fann teaching hospital. Socio-demographic, clinical and biological data were collected from the bench registers. Samples from the lesions were tested using direct microscopy and cultured on a Sabouraud-Chloramphenicol and Sabouraud-Chloramphenicol-Actidione medium. A descriptive analysis was done using Stata IC 12 software. The significance level of different tests was set at 5% two-side. A total of 469 patients were included in this study. The mean age of the study population was 33.2 ± 15.2 years, and the sex ratio was 0.52. The prevalence of onychomycosis was 48.4% (227/469). The main clinical presentations were disto-lateral subungual onychomycosis (37.9%) and onyxis (46.5%). Identified fungal species were Candida albicans (42.7%), Candida spp. (39.5%), Trichophyton soudanense (10.1%), Fusarium spp. (5.3%), and Candida tropicalis (2.6%). Candida albicans was more frequent in subjects over 15 years of age (43.6%) and women (45%). However, Trichophyton soudanense was higher in patients under 15 years old (17.4%) as well as in male subjects (18.8%). In conclusion, onychomycosis is a common cause of consultation in health facilities. Candida albicans and Trichophyton Soudanense are the main fungal species causing onychomycosis. A better understanding of the epidemiology of onychomycosis as well as the spectrum of the pathogen could contribute to improve the management of the infection. Full article

This work presents the chemical profile of two edible species of mushrooms from the genus Leccinum: Leccinum molle (Bon) Bon and Leccinum vulpinum Watling, both harvested on the outskirts of Bragança (Northeastern Portugal). Both species were prepared and characterized regarding their content in nutrients (i.e., free sugars, fatty acids and vitamins), non-nutrients (i.e., phenolic and other organic acids) and antioxidant activity. To the best of our knowledge, no previous studies on the chemical characterization and bioactivity of these species have been undertaken. Accordingly, this study intends to increase the available information concerning edible mushroom species, as well as to highlight another important factor regarding the conservation of the mycological resources—their potential as sources of nutraceutical/pharmaceutical compounds. Overall, both species revealed similar nutrient profiles, with low fat levels, fructose, mannitol and trehalose as the foremost free sugars, and high percentages of mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids. They also revealed the presence of bioactive compounds, namely phenolic (e.g., gallic acid, protocatechuic acid and p-hydroxybenzoic acid) and organic acids (e.g., citric and fumaric acids) and presented antioxidant properties. Full article