Monitoring fungal burden and viability of Sporothrix spp. in skin lesions of cats for predicting antifungal treatment response

Skin lesions in feline sporotrichosis usually present a high fungal burden, making cats an important source of infection. This study evaluated the fungal burden and isolation in skin lesions of feline sporotrichosis during treatment with itraconazole (ITZ), combined with or without potassium iodide (KI). Treatment-naïve cats with culture-confirmed sporotrichosis and presenting skin ulcers were treated for up to 40 weeks with oral ITZ alone (n = 74) or combined with KI (n = 56). These cats were submitted to monthly sampling of the same lesion for mycological culture and cytopathology until healing of lesion or up to twelve weeks. The fungal burden was expressed as the mean yeast cell count in three microscopic fields from imprint smears. The fungal burden before treatment was significantly higher in cats in which the lesion persisted and in cases of treatment failure when using ITZ alone. After twelve weeks, the median fungal burden decreased to zero in both treatment protocols, suggesting a potential decrease in the risk of transmission of Sporothrix spp. from cats. These findings encourage the early treatment of feline sporotrichosis as a control measure. Moreover, the fungal burden in feline sporotrichosis lesions can be a prognostic indicator and a parameter for choosing appropriate therapeutic regimen

Medicamentos opioides: revisão literária de aspectos farmacológicos de relevância

A dor é que uma percepção empírica sensorial nociceptiva, de conotação afetiva e desagradável, oposta ao prazer. O fenômeno da dor é resultado da ativação dos receptores nociceptivos, os quais captam estímulos nocivos ao organismo via SNC, o qual proporciona a detecção e sinalização do dano tecidual, exteriorizado como sensação dolorosa. Os receptores opioides são acoplados à proteína G na membrana celular, de tal forma que quando os mesmos sofrem estímulo farmacológico específico, ocorre inibição da enzima adenilato ciclase, com consequente queda da concentração intracelular de monofosfato cíclico de adenosina

Monitoring fungal burden and viability of Sporothrix spp. in skin lesions of cats for predicting antifungal treatment response

Skin lesions in feline sporotrichosis usually present a high fungal burden, making cats an important source of infection. This study evaluated the fungal burden and isolation in skin lesions of feline sporotrichosis during treatment with itraconazole (ITZ), combined with or without potassium iodide (KI). Treatment-naïve cats with culture-confirmed sporotrichosis and presenting skin ulcers were treated for up to 40 weeks with oral ITZ alone (n = 74) or combined with KI (n = 56). These cats were submitted to monthly sampling of the same lesion for mycological culture and cytopathology until healing of lesion or up to twelve weeks. The fungal burden was expressed as the mean yeast cell count in three microscopic fields from imprint smears. The fungal burden before treatment was significantly higher in cats in which the lesion persisted and in cases of treatment failure when using ITZ alone. After twelve weeks, the median fungal burden decreased to zero in both treatment protocols, suggesting a potential decrease in the risk of transmission of Sporothrix spp. from cats. These findings encourage the early treatment of feline sporotrichosis as a control measure. Moreover, the fungal burden in feline sporotrichosis lesions can be a prognostic indicator and a parameter for choosing appropriate therapeutic regimen

Monitoring Fungal Burden and Viability of Sporothrix spp. in Skin Lesions of Cats for Predicting Antifungal Treatment Response

Skin lesions in feline sporotrichosis usually present a high fungal burden, making cats an important source of infection. This study evaluated the fungal burden and isolation in skin lesions of feline sporotrichosis during treatment with itraconazole (ITZ), combined with or without potassium iodide (KI). Treatment-naïve cats with culture-confirmed sporotrichosis and presenting skin ulcers were treated for up to 40 weeks with oral ITZ alone (n = 74) or combined with KI (n = 56). These cats were submitted to monthly sampling of the same lesion for mycological culture and cytopathology until healing of lesion or up to twelve weeks. The fungal burden was expressed as the mean yeast cell count in three microscopic fields from imprint smears. The fungal burden before treatment was significantly higher in cats in which the lesion persisted and in cases of treatment failure when using ITZ alone. After twelve weeks, the median fungal burden decreased to zero in both treatment protocols, suggesting a potential decrease in the risk of transmission of Sporothrix spp. from cats. These findings encourage the early treatment of feline sporotrichosis as a control measure. Moreover, the fungal burden in feline sporotrichosis lesions can be a prognostic indicator and a parameter for choosing appropriate therapeutic regimen

A case of sporotrichosis caused by different Sporothrix brasiliensis strains: mycological, molecular, and virulence analyses

Submitted by Janaína Nascimento ([email protected]) on 2019-11-07T13:18:50Z No. of bitstreams: 1 ve_Oliveira_Manoel_etal_INI_2019.pdf: 7044495 bytes, checksum: 5d2a487ae2c9630c204eeb7ae358281f (MD5)Approved for entry into archive by Janaína Nascimento ([email protected]) on 2019-11-07T15:12:16Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 ve_Oliveira_Manoel_etal_INI_2019.pdf: 7044495 bytes, checksum: 5d2a487ae2c9630c204eeb7ae358281f (MD5)Made available in DSpace on 2019-11-07T15:12:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ve_Oliveira_Manoel_etal_INI_2019.pdf: 7044495 bytes, checksum: 5d2a487ae2c9630c204eeb7ae358281f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2019Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Laboratório de Pesquisa Clínica em Dermatozoonoses em Animais Domésticos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Laboratório de Micologia. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Laboratório de Pesquisa Clínica em Dermatozoonoses em Animais Domésticos, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil / Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Taxonomia, Bioquímica e Bioprospecção de Fungos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Taxonomia, Bioquímica e Bioprospecção de Fungos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Laboratório de Pesquisa Clínica em Dermatozoonoses em Animais Domésticos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasi.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Laboratório de Vigilância em Leishmaniose. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Albert Einstein College of Medicine. New York, NY, USA.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Laboratório de Micologia. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.BACKGROUND Sporotrichosis is a subcutaneous mycosis caused by dimorphic pathogenic fungi belonging to the Sporothrix genus. Pathogenic Sporothrix species typically produce melanin, which is known to be a virulence factor. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to perform phenotypic, genotypic, and virulence analyses of two distinct Sporothrix brasiliensis strains isolated from the same lesion on a patient from Rio de Janeiro. METHODS AND FINDINGS Genotypic analyses by partial sequencing of the calmodulin, β-tubulin, and chitin synthase genes, as well as polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-fingerprinting by T3B, M13, and GACA, showed that the isolates were very similar but not identical. Both isolates had similar phenotypic characteristics and effectively produced melanin in their yeast forms, accounting for their ability of causing disease in a murine sporotrichosis model. Remarkably, isolate B was albino in its environmental form but caused more severe disease than the pigmented A isolate. CONCLUSIONS These findings indicate that the patient was infected by two genetically and biologically distinct S. brasiliensis that vary in their production of melanin in their environmental forms. The results underscore the importance of characterizing phenotypically different isolates found in the same clinical specimen or patient