A case of Candida guilliermondii abortion in an Arab mare

A global view on fungal infections in humans and animals: opportunistic infections and microsporidioses

After cardiovascular diseases, infectious diseases are the second most common cause of death worldwide. Although these infections are caused mainly by viruses or bacteria, a systematically growing prevalence of human and animal opportunistic fungal infections is noticeable worldwide. More attention is being paid to this problem, especially due to the growing frequency of recalcitrant and recurrent mycoses. The latter are classically divided into superficial, which are the most common type, subcutaneous, and systemic. This work discusses opportunistic fungal pathogens without proven horizontal transmission between different animal species including humans and microsporidia as spore-forming unicellular parasites related to fungi; however, with a yet undetermined taxonomic position. The review also mentions aetiological agents, risk factors, epidemiology, geographical distribution, and finally symptoms characteristic for individual disease entities. This paper provides insight into fungal infections from a global perspective and simultaneously draws attention to emerging pathogens, whose prevalence is continuously increasing. Finally, this work also takes into consideration the correct nomenclature of fungal disease entities and the importance of secondary metabolites in the pathogenesis of fungal infections.

Placental macrophages: Origin, heterogeneity, function and role in pregnancy-associated infections

Placental macrophages are a heterogenous population of immune cells present throughout pregnancy. They are essential for maintenance of the homeostatic placenta environment and host defense against infections. The characterization of placental macrophages as well as their activation have been limited for a long time by the lack of convenient tools. The emergence of unbiased methods makes it possible to reappraise the study of placental macrophages. In this review, we discuss the diversity and the functions of placental macrophages to better understand their dysfunctions during placental infections.

In vitro synergy of eugenol on the antifungal effects of voriconazole against Candida tropicalis and Candida krusei strains isolated from the genital tract of mares

BACKGROUND

Due to the limited range of antifungals available to treat genital Candida infections and the emergence of resistant isolates, attention has focused on the antifungal potency of natural compounds with promising biological properties.

OBJECTIVES

To examine whether eugenol synergises the in vitro efficacy of voriconazole against Candida strains isolated from the genital tract of mares.

STUDY DESIGN

In vitro experiment.

METHODS

The antifungal activity of eugenol and voriconazole was evaluated using the broth microdilution assay (CLSI- M27-A3). Synergism of eugenol and voriconazole against genital Candida isolates was evaluated by the microdilution checkerboard method.

RESULTS

Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values for eugenol and voriconazole ranged from 400 to 800 µg/mL and 1 to 8 µg/mL, respectively, for C. tropicalis isolates, and from 200 to 400 µg/mL for eugenol and 2 to 16 µg/mL for voriconazole against C. krusei isolates. Eugenol decreased the arithmetic mean MIC for voriconazole against C. tropicalis and C. krusei isolates from 2.66 to 0.46 µg/mL and 7.77 to 0.41 µg/mL respectively. The fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI) values for the eugenol-voriconazole combination ranged from 0.25 to 0.88 and 0.19 to 0.63 for C. tropicalis and C. krusei isolates respectively. A synergistic effect of eugenol in combination with voriconazole was observed for 83.3% of C. tropicalis and 77.7% of C. krusei isolates. Antagonistic activity was not seen in any of the isolates tested.

MAIN LIMITATIONS

Since in vitro antifungal susceptibility tests are not systematic analyses, any selection bias could influence the results. In addition, in vitro susceptibility does not uniformly predict clinical success in vivo.

CONCLUSIONS

Eugenol showed fungistatic and fungicidal effects against genital Candida isolates and, in combination, synergised the antifungal effects of voriconazole. The eugenol-voriconazole combination can lay the foundation for a therapeutic approach against isolates in which azole resistance has increased over time.

Fungal infections in animals: a patchwork of different situations

The importance of fungal infections in both human and animals has increased over the last decades. This article represents an overview of the different categories of fungal infections that can be encountered in animals originating from environmental sources without transmission to humans. In addition, the endemic infections with indirect transmission from the environment, the zoophilic fungal pathogens with near-direct transmission, the zoonotic fungi that can be directly transmitted from animals to humans, mycotoxicoses and antifungal resistance in animals will also be discussed. Opportunistic mycoses are responsible for a wide range of diseases from localized infections to fatal disseminated diseases, such as aspergillosis, mucormycosis, candidiasis, cryptococcosis and infections caused by melanized fungi. The amphibian fungal disease chytridiomycosis and the Bat White-nose syndrome are due to obligatory fungal pathogens. Zoonotic agents are naturally transmitted from vertebrate animals to humans and vice versa. The list of zoonotic fungal agents is limited but some species, like Microsporum canis and Sporothrix brasiliensis from cats, have a strong public health impact. Mycotoxins are defined as the chemicals of fungal origin being toxic for warm-blooded vertebrates. Intoxications by aflatoxins and ochratoxins represent a threat for both human and animal health. Resistance to antifungals can occur in different animal species that receive these drugs, although the true epidemiology of resistance in animals is unknown, and options to treat infections caused by resistant infections are limited.

KDC, Crespilho AM. SENSIBILIDADE DO LAMINOCULTIVO DERMATOBAC® PARA O DIAGNÓSTICO DA ENDOMETRITE FÚNGICA EM ÉGUAS

Resumo Dentre os diferentes fatores etiológicos, a endometrite fúngica representa uma causa frequente de infertilidade na égua. Nesse sentido, dois experimentos foram realizados para avaliar a sensibilidade do Dermatobac®, sistema originalmente desenvolvido para o isolamento de fungos de interesse em Medicina Humana. No Experimento 1, cepas padrão de Candida (n=4) e Aspergyllus (n=1) foram semeadas assepticamente e em duplicata no sistema Dermatobac®, acompanhando-se o crescimento fúngico a cada 24 horas por 7 dias. Para o Experimento 2, foram selecionadas 34 éguas, submetidas à colheita de material uterino para o plaqueamento em Dermatobac® e realização de esfregaços para pesquisa direta de fungos (Controle). No Experimento 1, foi possível a observação macroscópica de todas as cepas de Candida e Aspergyllus a partir de 24 horas do início do cultivo microbiológico. No Experimento 2, foi constatada a presença de leveduras nas lâminas citológicas de cinco animais (14,71%), resultados também confirmados na semeadura em Dermatobac® (sensibilidade de 100%). Foram observados cinco casos falso-positivos caracterizados pelo crescimento microbiológico em sistema Dermatobac® não confirmados através da citologia endometrial, resultados que determinaram a especificidade de 85%. No entanto, todos os casos falso-positivos foram atribuídos a microrganismos contaminantes que apresentaram morfologia diferenciada e tempo de crescimento superior (P<0,05) ao apresentado pelos principais agentes etiológicos das endometrites fúngicas equinas. Conclui-se que o sistema Dermatobac® é eficiente para o diagnóstico macroscópico da endometrite fúngica em equinos, gerando informações visuais a partir de 24 horas de cultivo.