Candida auris: a quick review on identification, current treatments, and challenges

Candida auris is a novel and major fungal pathogen that has triggered several outbreaks in the last decade. The few drugs available to treat fungal diseases, the fact that this yeast has a high rate of multidrug resistance and the occurrence of misleading identifications, and the ability of forming biofilms (naturally more resistant to drugs) has made treatments of C. auris infections highly difficult. This review intends to quickly illustrate the main issues in C. auris identification, available treatments and the associated mechanisms of resistance, and the novel and alternative treatment and drugs (natural and synthetic) that have been recently reported. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.L.C. thanks the Slovak Research and Development Agency under contract No. ˇ APVV-15-0347 and the grant of VEGA 1/0537/19 from the Ministry of Education, Science, Research, and the Sport of the Slovak Republic. C.F.R. would like to acknowledge the UID/EQU/00511/2020 Project—Laboratory of Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy (LEPABE)— financed by national funds through FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

International Journal of Molecular and Clinical Microbiology Hwp1 gene Expression of Candida albicans and Study its role in adherence

Candida albicans is an opportunistic fungal pathogen found as mycoflora in the human body surfaces. Sevral genes play a crucial rule in its virulence including Hwp1 (hyphal wall protein 1), BCR1 and ALS gene family. Hwp1 gene is a responsible for coding a cell surface protein, which mediates biofilm formation in candida albicans. Here we investigated the presence of the HWP1gene was characterised among Candida albicans isolates in women with recurrent vaginal canididasis and further we studies its role in cell adherence. We used 50 Candida albicans clinical isolates resistant to Fluconazole. RNA (of samples were extracted using glass bead and lysis buffer and cDNA was synthesized using reverse transcriptase enzyme. Expression of (HWP1) gene was analysed using reverse transcriptase-plolymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The ability of adherence of the isolates with or without the expression of HWP1 were characterized using Hela cells. Statistical analysis were performed using t-test and two-way ANOVA SPSS software. Our results showed that the HWP1 gene were present in 47 samples (94%) out of 50 isolates, 27 samples (57%) had expression of HWP1. The result of adherence assay revealed that the isolates with the expression of HWP1 gene and control isolates was statistically different (p<0.05). In conclusion, the isolates with the expression of HWP1 gene has the higher ability to adhere the epithelial mucosal cell surface. Our data support a positive correlation between the expression of HWP1 gene and the ability of adherence to epithelial cells

Evaluating the expression of IL-17 and IL-23R genes in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear cells in Rheumatoid Arthritis patients

Background Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease caused by accumulation of numerous inflammatory cells in the joints and secretion of various cytokines leading to cartilage and bone damage. IL-17 and IL-23 are inflammatory cytokines that their definite role has not been clearly distinguished in RA pathogenesis. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the expression and association of IL-17 and IL-23R in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in RA patients. Methods This study was case-control. We gathered peripheral blood from 37 patients with RA and the same number of healthy individuals as a control group. In brief, PBMCs were isolated by Ficoll centrifugation. After RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis, IL-17 and IL-23R expression mRNA levels were determined in PBMCs by real-time PCR technique and Taqman probe method. Results The mean±standard deviation of the ages in patient group was 46.86±1.328 yr. and in controls was 44.73±1.392 yr. The expression of IL-17 was increased in RA patients in comparison to healthy controls (P= 0.002). Whereas, after comparison of IL-23R expression in patient and healthy groups, no significant difference was observed (P = 0.22). Conclusion In this study, upregulated expression of IL-17 implicated the important role of this cytokine in RA pathogenesis. Therefore, novel therapeutic and more effective strategies can be suggested by further investigations to specifically inhibit IL-17 using monoclonal antibodies (biologic drugs) Keywords:Rheumatoid Arthritis , Peripheral Blood Mononuclear cells , IL , 17 , IL , 23

Corrigendum: Comparison of 21-Plex PCR and API 20C AUX, MALDI-TOF MS, and rDNA Sequencing for a Wide Range of Clinically Isolated Yeast Species: Improved Identification by Combining 21-Plex PCR and API 20C AUX as an Alternative Strategy for Developing Countries

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2019.00021.]

Azole-Resistance in Aspergillus terreus and Related Species: An Emerging Problem or a Rare Phenomenon?

Raquel Sabino was not included as an author in the published article. It was corrected a posteriori.Erratum in - Corrigendum: Azole-Resistance in Aspergillus terreus and Related Species: An Emerging Problem or a Rare Phenomenon? [Front Microbiol. 2018] Front Microbiol. 2019 Jan 14;9:3245. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.03245. eCollection 2018.Disponível em: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2018.03245/fullFree PMC Article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5882871/ | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6340063/Objectives: Invasive mold infections associated with Aspergillus species are a significant cause of mortality in immunocompromised patients. The most frequently occurring aetiological pathogens are members of the Aspergillus section Fumigati followed by members of the section Terrei. The frequency of Aspergillus terreus and related (cryptic) species in clinical specimens, as well as the percentage of azole-resistant strains remains to be studied. Methods: A global set (n = 498) of A. terreus and phenotypically related isolates was molecularly identified (beta-tubulin), tested for antifungal susceptibility against posaconazole, voriconazole, and itraconazole, and resistant phenotypes were correlated with point mutations in the cyp51A gene. Results: The majority of isolates was identified as A. terreus (86.8%), followed by A. citrinoterreus (8.4%), A. hortai (2.6%), A. alabamensis (1.6%), A. neoafricanus (0.2%), and A. floccosus (0.2%). One isolate failed to match a known Aspergillus sp., but was found most closely related to A. alabamensis. According to EUCAST clinical breakpoints azole resistance was detected in 5.4% of all tested isolates, 6.2% of A. terreus sensu stricto (s.s.) were posaconazole-resistant. Posaconazole resistance differed geographically and ranged from 0% in the Czech Republic, Greece, and Turkey to 13.7% in Germany. In contrast, azole resistance among cryptic species was rare 2 out of 66 isolates and was observed only in one A. citrinoterreus and one A. alabamensis isolate. The most affected amino acid position of the Cyp51A gene correlating with the posaconazole resistant phenotype was M217, which was found in the variation M217T and M217V. Conclusions:Aspergillus terreus was most prevalent, followed by A. citrinoterreus. Posaconazole was the most potent drug against A. terreus, but 5.4% of A. terreus sensu stricto showed resistance against this azole. In Austria, Germany, and the United Kingdom posaconazole-resistance in all A. terreus isolates was higher than 10%, resistance against voriconazole was rare and absent for itraconazole.This work was supported by ECMM, ISHAM, and EFISG and in part by an unrestricted research grant through the Investigator Initiated Studies Programof Astellas, MSD, and Pfizer. This study was fundet by the Christian Doppler Laboratory for invasive fungal infections.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Overview on the Prevalence of Fungal Infections, Immune Response, and Microbiome Role in COVID-19 Patients

Patients with severe COVID-19, such as individuals in intensive care units (ICU), are exceptionally susceptible to bacterial and fungal infections. The most prevalent fungal infections are aspergillosis and candidemia. Nonetheless, other fungal species (for instance, Histoplasma spp., Rhizopus spp., Mucor spp., Cryptococcus spp.) have recently been increasingly linked to opportunistic fungal diseases in COVID-19 patients. These fungal co-infections are described with rising incidence, severe illness, and death that is associated with host immune response. Awareness of the high risks of the occurrence of fungal co-infections is crucial to downgrade any arrear in diagnosis and treatment to support the prevention of severe illness and death directly related to these infections. This review analyses the fungal infections, treatments, outcome, and immune response, considering the possible role of the microbiome in these patients. The search was performed in Medline (PubMed), using the words “fungal infections COVID-19”, between 2020–2021

Antimicrobial Peptides As Biologic and Immunotherapeutic Agents against Cancer: A Comprehensive Overview

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are a pervasive and evolutionarily ancient component of innate host defense which is present in virtually all classes of life. In recent years, evidence has accumulated that parallel or de novo mechanisms by which AMPs curb infectious pathologies are also effective at restraining cancer cell proliferation and dissemination, and have consequently stimulated significant interest in their deployment as novel biologic and immunotherapeutic agents against human malignancies. In this review, we explicate the biochemical underpinnings of their tumor-selectivity, and discuss results of recent clinical trials (outside of oncologic indications) which substantiate their safety and tolerability profiles. Next, we present evidence for their preclinical antitumor activity, systematically organized by the major and minor classes of natural AMPs. Finally, we discuss the barriers to their clinical implementation and envision directions for further development