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Arendrup MC, Guinea J, Meletiadis J. Twenty Years in EUCAST Anti-Fungal Susceptibility Testing: Progress & Remaining Challenges. Mycopathologia 2024; 189:64. [PMID: 38990395 DOI: 10.1007/s11046-024-00861-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2024] [Accepted: 05/15/2024] [Indexed: 07/12/2024]
Abstract
Since its inception in 2002, the EUCAST Antifungal Susceptibility Testing Subcommittee (AFST) has developed and refined susceptibility testing methods for yeast, moulds and dermatophytes, and established epidemiological cut-off values and breakpoints for antifungals. For yeast, three challenges have been addressed. Interpretation of trailing growth in fluconazole susceptibility testing, which has been proven without impact on efficacy if below the 50% endpoint. Variability in rezafungin MIC testing due to laboratory conditions, which has been solved by the addition of Tween 20 to the growth medium in E.Def 7.4. And third, interpretation of MICs for rare yeast with no breakpoints, where recommendations have been established for MIC-based clinical advice. For moulds, refinements include the validation of spectrophotometer reading for A. fumigatus to facilitate objective MIC determination, and for dermatophytes the establishment of a microdilution method with automated reading and a selective medium to minimise the risk of contaminations. Recent initiatives involve development and validation of agar-based screening assays for detection of potential azole and echinocandin resistance in A. fumigatus and Aspergillus species, respectively, and of terbinafine resistance in Trichophyton species. Moreover, the development of a EUCAST guidance document for molecular resistance testing represents an advancement, particularly for identifying target gene alterations associated with resistance. In summary, EUCAST AFST continues to play a pivotal role in standardizing AFST and facilitating accurate interpretation of susceptibility data for clinical decision-making. Adoption of EUCAST breakpoints for commercial test methods, however, requires thorough validation to ensure concordance with EUCAST reference testing species-specific MIC distributions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maiken Cavling Arendrup
- Unit for Mycology, Statens Serum Institut, Building 45/112, Artillerivej 5, 2300, Copenhagen, Denmark.
- Department Clinical Microbiology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark.
| | - Jesus Guinea
- Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, 28007, Madrid, Spain
- Faculty of Health Sciences-HM Hospitals, Universidad Camilo José Cela, Madrid, Spain
| | - Joseph Meletiadis
- Clinical Microbiology Laboratory, Attikon University Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
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Lin SY, Huang HY, Chang LL, Wang YL, Chen TC, Chang K, Tu HP, Lu PL. The impact of the fluconazole trailing effect on the persistence of Candida albicans bloodstream infection when treated with fluconazole. Clin Microbiol Infect 2024; 30:945-950. [PMID: 38527614 DOI: 10.1016/j.cmi.2024.03.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2023] [Revised: 03/10/2024] [Accepted: 03/19/2024] [Indexed: 03/27/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The trailing effect of Candida species is a phenomenon characterized by reduced but persistent growth at antifungal concentrations above the MIC. We assessed the impact of trailing growth on the persistence of Candida albicans candidemia in patients receiving fluconazole (FLC) therapy. METHODS We retrospectively investigated candidemia isolates at three hospitals in southern Taiwan between 2013 and 2020. Patients treated with FLC for FLC-susceptible C. albicans candidemia were enrolled. The degree of trailing was determined as the average growth above the MIC divided by the measured growth at the lowest drug concentration using the EUCAST method and classified into four categories: residual (0.1-5%), slight (6-10%), moderate (11-15%), and heavy trailers (>15%). RESULTS Among isolates from 190 patients, the proportions of heavy trailers at 24 hours, 48 hours, and 72 hours were 63.7% (121/190), 63.2% (120/190), and 74.7% (142/190), respectively. Persistent candidemia was observed in 17 (8.9 %) patients. The proportion of persistent C. albicans candidemia in heavy trailing isolates at 48 hours was higher than in isolates without heavy trailing (13.3% [16/120] vs. 1.4% [1/70], p = 0.007). A multivariate analysis showed that immunosuppression (OR = 7.92; 95% CI: 2.38-26.39, p = 0.001), hospitalization days after the index date of C. albicans identification (OR = 1.03; 95% CI: 1.01-1.05, p = 0.011), and heavy trailing isolates at 48 hours (OR = 10.04; 95% CI: 1.27-79.88, p = 0.029) were independent factors for persistent candidemia. DISCUSSION The current study revealed that heavy trailing in C. albicans isolates is associated with persistent candidemia in patients receiving FLC treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shang-Yi Lin
- Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Laboratory Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Ho-Yin Huang
- Department of Pharmacy, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Lin-Li Chang
- Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Medical Research, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Ya-Ling Wang
- Department of Pharmacy, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Tun-Chieh Chen
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Ko Chang
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Municipal Siaogang Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Hung-Pin Tu
- Department of Public Health and Environmental Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Po-Liang Lu
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Center for Liquid Biopsy and Cohort Research, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; School of Post-Baccalaureate Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
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Hoenigl M, Arastehfar A, Arendrup MC, Brüggemann R, Carvalho A, Chiller T, Chen S, Egger M, Feys S, Gangneux JP, Gold JAW, Groll AH, Heylen J, Jenks JD, Krause R, Lagrou K, Lamoth F, Prattes J, Sedik S, Wauters J, Wiederhold NP, Thompson GR. Novel antifungals and treatment approaches to tackle resistance and improve outcomes of invasive fungal disease. Clin Microbiol Rev 2024; 37:e0007423. [PMID: 38602408 PMCID: PMC11237431 DOI: 10.1128/cmr.00074-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/12/2024] Open
Abstract
SUMMARYFungal infections are on the rise, driven by a growing population at risk and climate change. Currently available antifungals include only five classes, and their utility and efficacy in antifungal treatment are limited by one or more of innate or acquired resistance in some fungi, poor penetration into "sequestered" sites, and agent-specific side effect which require frequent patient reassessment and monitoring. Agents with novel mechanisms, favorable pharmacokinetic (PK) profiles including good oral bioavailability, and fungicidal mechanism(s) are urgently needed. Here, we provide a comprehensive review of novel antifungal agents, with both improved known mechanisms of actions and new antifungal classes, currently in clinical development for treating invasive yeast, mold (filamentous fungi), Pneumocystis jirovecii infections, and dimorphic fungi (endemic mycoses). We further focus on inhaled antifungals and the role of immunotherapy in tackling fungal infections, and the specific PK/pharmacodynamic profiles, tissue distributions as well as drug-drug interactions of novel antifungals. Finally, we review antifungal resistance mechanisms, the role of use of antifungal pesticides in agriculture as drivers of drug resistance, and detail detection methods for antifungal resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Hoenigl
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, ECMM Excellence Center for Medical Mycology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
- BiotechMed-Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Amir Arastehfar
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Maiken Cavling Arendrup
- Unit of Mycology, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Clinical Microbiology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Roger Brüggemann
- Department of Pharmacy and Radboudumc Institute for Medical Innovation, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Radboudumc-CWZ Center of Expertise in Mycology, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Agostinho Carvalho
- Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Medicine, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
- ICVS/3B’s - PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga/Guimarães, Portugal
| | - Tom Chiller
- Mycotic Diseases Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Sharon Chen
- Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Laboratory Services, Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, NSW South Wales Health Pathology, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, Australia
- The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Matthias Egger
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, ECMM Excellence Center for Medical Mycology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Simon Feys
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Medical Intensive Care Unit, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jean-Pierre Gangneux
- Centre National de Référence des Mycoses et Antifongiques LA-AspC Aspergilloses chroniques, European Excellence Center for Medical Mycology (ECMM EC), Centre hospitalier Universitaire de Rennes, Rennes, France
- Univ Rennes, CHU Rennes, Inserm, EHESP, Irset (Institut de recherche en santé, environnement et travail) UMR_S 1085, Rennes, France
| | - Jeremy A. W. Gold
- Mycotic Diseases Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Andreas H. Groll
- Department of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and Infectious Disease Research Program, Center for Bone Marrow Transplantation, University Children’s Hospital, Muenster, Germany
| | - Jannes Heylen
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Medical Intensive Care Unit, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jeffrey D. Jenks
- Department of Public Health, Durham County, Durham, North Carolina, USA
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Robert Krause
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, ECMM Excellence Center for Medical Mycology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
- BiotechMed-Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Katrien Lagrou
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and National Reference Center for Mycosis, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Frédéric Lamoth
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Institute of Microbiology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Department of Medicine, Infectious Diseases Service, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Juergen Prattes
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, ECMM Excellence Center for Medical Mycology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
- BiotechMed-Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Sarah Sedik
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, ECMM Excellence Center for Medical Mycology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Joost Wauters
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Medical Intensive Care Unit, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Nathan P. Wiederhold
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA
| | - George R. Thompson
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases University of California-Davis Medical Center, Sacramento, California, USA
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of California-Davis, Davis, California, USA
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Arastehfar A, Daneshnia F, Floyd DJ, Jeffries NE, Salehi M, Perlin DS, Ilkit M, Lass-Flöerl C, Mansour MK. Echinocandin persistence directly impacts the evolution of resistance and survival of the pathogenic fungus Candida glabrata. mBio 2024; 15:e0007224. [PMID: 38501869 PMCID: PMC11005346 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.00072-24] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2024] [Accepted: 02/23/2024] [Indexed: 03/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Recent epidemiological studies documented an alarming increase in the prevalence of echinocandin-resistant (ECR) Candida glabrata blood isolates. ECR isolates are known to arise from a minor subpopulation of a clonal population, termed echinocandin persisters. Although it is believed that isolates with a higher echinocandin persistence (ECP) are more likely to develop ECR, the implication of ECP needs to be better understood. Moreover, replacing laborious and time-consuming traditional approaches to determine ECP levels with rapid, convenient, and reliable tools is imperative to advance our understanding of this emerging concept in clinical practice. Herein, using extensive ex vivo and in vivo systemic infection models, we showed that high ECP isolates are less effectively cleared by micafungin treatment and exclusively give rise to ECR colonies. Additionally, we developed a flow cytometry-based tool that takes advantage of a SYTOX-based assay for the stratification of ECP levels. Once challenged with various collections of echinocandin-susceptible blood isolates, our assay reliably differentiated ECP levels in vitro and predicted ECP levels in real time under ex vivo and in vivo conditions when compared to traditional methods relying on colony-forming unit counting. Given the high and low ECP predictive values of 92.3% and 82.3%, respectively, our assay showed a high agreement with traditional approach. Collectively, our study supports the concept of ECP level determination in clinical settings and provides a robust tool scalable for high-throughput settings. Application of this tool facilitates the interrogation of mutant and drug libraries to further our understanding of persister biology and designing anti-persister therapeutics. IMPORTANCE Candida glabrata is a prevalent fungal pathogen able to replicate inside macrophages and rapidly develop resistance against frontline antifungal echinocandins. Multiple studies have shown that echinocandin resistance is fueled by the survival of a small subpopulation of susceptible cells surviving lethal concentrations of echinocandins. Importantly, bacterial pathogens that exhibit high antibiotic persistence also impose a high burden and generate more antibiotic-resistant colonies. Nonetheless, the implications of echinocandin persistence (ECP) among the clinical isolates of C. glabrata have not been defined. Additionally, ECP level determination relies on a laborious and time-consuming method, which is prone to high variation. By exploiting in vivo systemic infection and ex vivo models, we showed that C. glabrata isolates with a higher ECP are associated with a higher burden and more likely develop echinocandin resistance upon micafungin treatment. Additionally, we developed an assay that reliably determines ECP levels in real time. Therefore, our study identified C. glabrata isolates displaying high ECP levels as important entities and provided a reliable and convenient tool for measuring echinocandin persistence, which is extendable to other fungal and bacterial pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amir Arastehfar
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Farnaz Daneshnia
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Daniel J. Floyd
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | | | - Mostafa Salehi
- Department Industrial Engineering Faculty of K.N., Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
| | - David S. Perlin
- Center for Discovery and Innovation, Hackensack Meridian Health, Nutley, New Jersey, USA
- Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, Nutley, New Jersey, USA
- Georgetown University Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | - Macit Ilkit
- Division of Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Çukurova, Adana, Türkiye
| | - Cornelia Lass-Flöerl
- Medical University Innsbruck, Institute of Hygiene and Medical Microbiology, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Michael K. Mansour
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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5
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Yang F, Berman J. Beyond resistance: antifungal heteroresistance and antifungal tolerance in fungal pathogens. Curr Opin Microbiol 2024; 78:102439. [PMID: 38401284 PMCID: PMC7616270 DOI: 10.1016/j.mib.2024.102439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2023] [Revised: 09/18/2023] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 02/26/2024]
Abstract
Fungal infections are increasing globally, causing alarmingly high mortality and economic burden. In addition to antifungal resistance, other more subtle drug responses appear to increase the likelihood of treatment failures. These responses include heteroresistance and tolerance, terms that are more well-defined for antibacterial drugs, but are also evident in pathogenic fungi. Here, we compare these antifungal responses with similarly named antibacterial responses, and we review recent advances in how we understand the routes by which antifungal heteroresistance and tolerance emerge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Feng Yang
- Department of Pharmacy, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
| | - Judith Berman
- Shmunis School of Biomedical and Cancer Research, The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
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6
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Dumeaux V, Massahi S, Bettauer V, Mottola A, Dukovny A, Khurdia SS, Costa ACBP, Omran RP, Simpson S, Xie JL, Whiteway M, Berman J, Hallett MT. Candida albicans exhibits heterogeneous and adaptive cytoprotective responses to antifungal compounds. eLife 2023; 12:e81406. [PMID: 37888959 PMCID: PMC10699808 DOI: 10.7554/elife.81406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2022] [Accepted: 10/26/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Candida albicans, an opportunistic human pathogen, poses a significant threat to human health and is associated with significant socio-economic burden. Current antifungal treatments fail, at least in part, because C. albicans can initiate a strong drug tolerance response that allows some cells to grow at drug concentrations above their minimal inhibitory concentration. To better characterize this cytoprotective tolerance program at the molecular single-cell level, we used a nanoliter droplet-based transcriptomics platform to profile thousands of individual fungal cells and establish their subpopulation characteristics in the absence and presence of antifungal drugs. Profiles of untreated cells exhibit heterogeneous expression that correlates with cell cycle stage with distinct metabolic and stress responses. At 2 days post-fluconazole exposure (a time when tolerance is measurable), surviving cells bifurcate into two major subpopulations: one characterized by the upregulation of genes encoding ribosomal proteins, rRNA processing machinery, and mitochondrial cellular respiration capacity, termed the Ribo-dominant (Rd) state; and the other enriched for genes encoding stress responses and related processes, termed the Stress-dominant (Sd) state. This bifurcation persists at 3 and 6 days post-treatment. We provide evidence that the ribosome assembly stress response (RASTR) is activated in these subpopulations and may facilitate cell survival.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vanessa Dumeaux
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Western University, London, Canada
| | - Samira Massahi
- Department of Biology, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
| | - Van Bettauer
- Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
| | - Austin Mottola
- Shmunis School of Biomedical and Cancer Research, The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel
| | - Anna Dukovny
- Shmunis School of Biomedical and Cancer Research, The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel
| | | | | | | | - Shawn Simpson
- Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
| | - Jinglin Lucy Xie
- Department of Chemical and Systems Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, United States
| | | | - Judith Berman
- Shmunis School of Biomedical and Cancer Research, The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel
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Franconi I, Rizzato C, Poma N, Tavanti A, Lupetti A. Candida parapsilosis sensu stricto Antifungal Resistance Mechanisms and Associated Epidemiology. J Fungi (Basel) 2023; 9:798. [PMID: 37623569 PMCID: PMC10456088 DOI: 10.3390/jof9080798] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2023] [Revised: 07/18/2023] [Accepted: 07/25/2023] [Indexed: 08/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Fungal diseases cause millions of deaths per year worldwide. Antifungal resistance has become a matter of great concern in public health. In recent years rates of non-albicans species have risen dramatically. Candida parapsilosis is now reported to be the second most frequent species causing candidemia in several countries in Europe, Latin America, South Africa and Asia. Rates of acquired azole resistance are reaching a worrisome threshold from multiple reports as in vitro susceptibility testing is now starting also to explore tolerance and heteroresistance to antifungal compounds. With this review, the authors seek to evaluate known antifungal resistance mechanisms and their worldwide distribution in Candida species infections with a specific focus on C. parapsilosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iacopo Franconi
- Department of Translational Research on New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Via San Zeno, 37, 56127 Pisa, Italy; (I.F.); (C.R.)
| | - Cosmeri Rizzato
- Department of Translational Research on New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Via San Zeno, 37, 56127 Pisa, Italy; (I.F.); (C.R.)
| | - Noemi Poma
- Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Via San Zeno, 37, 56127 Pisa, Italy; (N.P.); (A.T.)
| | - Arianna Tavanti
- Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Via San Zeno, 37, 56127 Pisa, Italy; (N.P.); (A.T.)
| | - Antonella Lupetti
- Department of Translational Research on New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Via San Zeno, 37, 56127 Pisa, Italy; (I.F.); (C.R.)
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8
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Rasouli Koohi S, Shankarnarayan SA, Galon CM, Charlebois DA. Identification and Elimination of Antifungal Tolerance in Candida auris. Biomedicines 2023; 11:biomedicines11030898. [PMID: 36979876 PMCID: PMC10045952 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines11030898] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2022] [Revised: 03/10/2023] [Accepted: 03/11/2023] [Indexed: 03/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance is a global health crisis to which pathogenic fungi make a substantial contribution. The human fungal pathogen C. auris is of particular concern due to its rapid spread across the world and its evolution of multidrug resistance. Fluconazole failure in C. auris has been recently attributed to antifungal “tolerance”. Tolerance is a phenomenon whereby a slow-growing subpopulation of tolerant cells, which are genetically identical to susceptible cells, emerges during drug treatment. We use microbroth dilution and disk diffusion assays, together with image analysis, to investigate antifungal tolerance in C. auris to all three classes of antifungal drugs used to treat invasive candidiasis. We find that (1) C. auris is tolerant to several common fungistatic and fungicidal drugs, which in some cases can be detected after 24 h, as well as after 48 h, of antifungal drug exposure; (2) the tolerant phenotype reverts to the susceptible phenotype in C. auris; and (3) combining azole, polyene, and echinocandin antifungal drugs with the adjuvant chloroquine in some cases reduces or eliminates tolerance and resistance in patient-derived C. auris isolates. These results suggest that tolerance contributes to treatment failure in C. auris infections for a broad range of antifungal drugs, and that antifungal adjuvants may improve treatment outcomes for patients infected with antifungal-tolerant or antifungal-resistant fungal pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Daniel A. Charlebois
- Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, Canada
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada
- Correspondence:
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Spruijtenburg B, Baqueiro CCSZ, Colombo AL, Meijer EFJ, de Almeida JN, Berrio I, Fernández NB, Chaves GM, Meis JF, de Groot T. Short Tandem Repeat Genotyping and Antifungal Susceptibility Testing of Latin American Candida tropicalis Isolates. J Fungi (Basel) 2023; 9:jof9020207. [PMID: 36836321 PMCID: PMC9958743 DOI: 10.3390/jof9020207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2023] [Revised: 01/31/2023] [Accepted: 02/03/2023] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Candida tropicalis is emerging as one of the most common Candida species causing opportunistic infections in Latin America. Outbreak events caused by C. tropicalis were reported, and antifungal resistant isolates are on the rise. In order to investigate population genomics and look into antifungal resistance, we applied a short tandem repeat (STR) genotyping scheme and antifungal susceptibility testing (AFST) to 230 clinical and environmental C. tropicalis isolates from Latin American countries. STR genotyping identified 164 genotypes, including 11 clusters comprised of three to seven isolates, indicating outbreak events. AFST identified one isolate as anidulafungin-resistant and harboring a FKS1 S659P substitution. Moreover, we identified 24 clinical and environmental isolates with intermediate susceptibility or resistance to one or more azoles. ERG11 sequencing revealed each of these isolates harboring a Y132F and/or Y257H/N substitution. All of these isolates, except one, were clustered together in two groups of closely related STR genotypes, with each group harboring distinct ERG11 substitutions. The ancestral C. tropicalis strain of these isolates likely acquired the azole resistance-associated substitutions and subsequently spread across vast distances within Brazil. Altogether, this STR genotyping scheme for C. tropicalis proved to be useful for identifying unrecognized outbreak events and better understanding population genomics, including the spread of antifungal-resistant isolates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bram Spruijtenburg
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Canisius-Wilhelmina Hospital, 6532 SZ Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Center of Expertise in Mycology, Radboud University Medical Center, Canisius-Wilhelmina Hospital, 6532 SZ Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Cynthea C. S. Z. Baqueiro
- Disciplina de Infectologia, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo 04021-001, SP, Brazil
| | - Arnaldo L. Colombo
- Disciplina de Infectologia, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo 04021-001, SP, Brazil
| | - Eelco F. J. Meijer
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Canisius-Wilhelmina Hospital, 6532 SZ Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Center of Expertise in Mycology, Radboud University Medical Center, Canisius-Wilhelmina Hospital, 6532 SZ Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - João N. de Almeida
- Disciplina de Infectologia, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo 04021-001, SP, Brazil
- Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo 05652-900, SP, Brazil
| | - Indira Berrio
- Hospital General de Medellín Luz Castro de Gutiérrez ESE, Medellín 050015, Colombia
- Medical and Experimental Mycology Group, Corporación para Investigaciones Biológicas (CIB), Medellín 050015, Colombia
| | - Norma B. Fernández
- Hospital de Clínicas, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires 2351, Argentina
| | - Guilherme M. Chaves
- Departamento de Análises Clínicas e Toxicológicas, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal 59078-970, RN, Brazil
| | - Jacques F. Meis
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Canisius-Wilhelmina Hospital, 6532 SZ Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Center of Expertise in Mycology, Radboud University Medical Center, Canisius-Wilhelmina Hospital, 6532 SZ Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Bioprocess Engineering and Biotechnology Graduate Program, Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba 80060-000, PR, Brazil
- Department I of Internal Medicine, University of Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Excellence Center for Medical Mycology, 50931 Cologne, Germany
| | - Theun de Groot
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Canisius-Wilhelmina Hospital, 6532 SZ Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Center of Expertise in Mycology, Radboud University Medical Center, Canisius-Wilhelmina Hospital, 6532 SZ Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Correspondence:
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Yu J, He C, Wang T, Zhang G, Li J, Zhang J, Kang W, Xu Y, Zhao Y. Rapid automated antifungal susceptibility testing system for yeasts based on growth characteristics. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2023; 13:1153544. [PMID: 37201120 PMCID: PMC10185846 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1153544] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2023] [Accepted: 04/14/2023] [Indexed: 05/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Fungal pathogens are a major threat to public health, as they are becoming increasingly common and resistant to treatment, with only four classes of antifungal medicines currently available and few candidates in the clinical development pipeline. Most fungal pathogens lack rapid and sensitive diagnostic techniques, and those that exist are not widely available or affordable. In this study, we introduce a novel automated antifungal susceptibility testing system, Droplet 48, which detects the fluorescence of microdilution wells in real time and fits growth characteristics using fluorescence intensity over time. We concluded that all reportable ranges of Droplet 48 were appropriate for clinical fungal isolates in China. Reproducibility within ±2 two-fold dilutions was 100%. Considering the Sensititre YeastOne Colorimetric Broth method as a comparator method, eight antifungal agents (fluconazole, itraconazole, voriconazole, caspofungin, micafungin, anidulafungin, amphotericin B, and 5-flucytosine) showed an essential agreement of >90%, except for posaconazole (86.62%). Category agreement of four antifungal agents (fluconazole, caspofungin, micafungin, and anidulafungin) was >90%, except for voriconazole (87.93% agreement). Two Candida albicans isolates and anidulafungin showed a major discrepancy (MD) (2.60%), and no other MD or very MD agents were found. Therefore, Droplet 48 can be considered as an optional method that is more automated and can obtain results and interpretations faster than previous methods. However, the optimization of the detection performance of posaconazole and voriconazole and promotion of Droplet 48 in clinical microbiology laboratories still require further research involving more clinical isolates in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinhan Yu
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
- Graduate School, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory for Mechanisms Research and Precision Diagnosis of Invasive Fungal Diseases, Beijing, China
| | - Chun He
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Beijing, China
| | - Tong Wang
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory for Mechanisms Research and Precision Diagnosis of Invasive Fungal Diseases, Beijing, China
| | - Ge Zhang
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory for Mechanisms Research and Precision Diagnosis of Invasive Fungal Diseases, Beijing, China
| | - Jin Li
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory for Mechanisms Research and Precision Diagnosis of Invasive Fungal Diseases, Beijing, China
| | - Jingjia Zhang
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory for Mechanisms Research and Precision Diagnosis of Invasive Fungal Diseases, Beijing, China
| | - Wei Kang
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory for Mechanisms Research and Precision Diagnosis of Invasive Fungal Diseases, Beijing, China
| | - Yingchun Xu
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory for Mechanisms Research and Precision Diagnosis of Invasive Fungal Diseases, Beijing, China
- *Correspondence: Ying Zhao, ; Yingchun Xu,
| | - Ying Zhao
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory for Mechanisms Research and Precision Diagnosis of Invasive Fungal Diseases, Beijing, China
- *Correspondence: Ying Zhao, ; Yingchun Xu,
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11
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Gow NAR, Johnson C, Berman J, Coste AT, Cuomo CA, Perlin DS, Bicanic T, Harrison TS, Wiederhold N, Bromley M, Chiller T, Edgar K. The importance of antimicrobial resistance in medical mycology. Nat Commun 2022; 13:5352. [PMID: 36097014 PMCID: PMC9466305 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-32249-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 37.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2022] [Accepted: 07/22/2022] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Prior to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, antibiotic resistance was listed as the major global health care priority. Some analyses, including the O'Neill report, have predicted that deaths due to drug-resistant bacterial infections may eclipse the total number of cancer deaths by 2050. Although fungal infections remain in the shadow of public awareness, total attributable annual deaths are similar to, or exceeds, global mortalities due to malaria, tuberculosis or HIV. The impact of fungal infections has been exacerbated by the steady rise of antifungal drug resistant strains and species which reflects the widespread use of antifungals for prophylaxis and therapy, and in the case of azole resistance in Aspergillus, has been linked to the widespread agricultural use of antifungals. This review, based on a workshop hosted by the Medical Research Council and the University of Exeter, illuminates the problem of antifungal resistance and suggests how this growing threat might be mitigated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Neil A R Gow
- MRC Centre for Medical Mycology, School of Biosciences, University of Exeter, Geoffrey Pope Building, Exeter, EX4 4QD, UK.
| | - Carolyn Johnson
- Medical Research Council, Polaris House, Swindon, SN2 1FL, UK.
| | - Judith Berman
- Shmunis School of Biomedical and Cancer Research, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 418 Britannia Building, Ramat Aviv, 69978, Israel
| | - Alix T Coste
- Microbiology Institute, University Hospital Lausanne, rue du Bugnon 48, 1011, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Christina A Cuomo
- (CAC) Infectious Disease and Microbiome Program, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA
| | - David S Perlin
- Center for Discovery and Innovation, Hackensack Meridian health, Nutley, NJ, 07110, USA
| | - Tihana Bicanic
- Institute of Infection and Immunity, St George's University of London, London, SW17 0RE, UK
- Clinical Academic Group in Infection, St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, SW17 0QT, UK
| | - Thomas S Harrison
- MRC Centre for Medical Mycology, School of Biosciences, University of Exeter, Geoffrey Pope Building, Exeter, EX4 4QD, UK
- Institute of Infection and Immunity, St George's University of London, London, SW17 0RE, UK
- Clinical Academic Group in Infection, St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, SW17 0QT, UK
| | - Nathan Wiederhold
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, 78229, USA
| | - Mike Bromley
- Manchester Fungal Infection Group, Division of Evolution, Infection, and Genomics, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, CTF Building, 46 Grafton Street, Manchester, M13 9NT, UK
| | - Tom Chiller
- Center for Disease Control and Prevention Mycotic Disease Branch 1600 Clifton Rd, MSC-09, Atlanta, 30333, GA, USA
| | - Keegan Edgar
- Center for Disease Control and Prevention Mycotic Disease Branch 1600 Clifton Rd, MSC-09, Atlanta, 30333, GA, USA
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12
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Lima R, Ribeiro FC, Colombo AL, de Almeida JN. The emerging threat antifungal-resistant Candida tropicalis in humans, animals, and environment. FRONTIERS IN FUNGAL BIOLOGY 2022; 3:957021. [PMID: 37746212 PMCID: PMC10512401 DOI: 10.3389/ffunb.2022.957021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2022] [Accepted: 07/28/2022] [Indexed: 09/26/2023]
Abstract
Antifungal resistance in humans, animals, and the environment is an emerging problem. Among the different fungal species that can develop resistance, Candida tropicalis is ubiquitous and causes infections in animals and humans. In Asia and some Latin American countries, C. tropicalis is among the most common species related to candidemia, and mortality rates are usually above 40%. Fluconazole resistance is especially reported in Asian countries and clonal spread in humans and the environment has been investigated in some studies. In Brazil, high rates of azole resistance have been found in animals and the environment. Multidrug resistance is still rare, but recent reports of clinical multidrug-resistant isolates are worrisome. The molecular apparatus of antifungal resistance has been majorly investigated in clinical C. tropicalis isolates, revealing that this species can develop resistance through the conjunction of different adaptative mechanisms. In this review article, we summarize the main findings regarding antifungal resistance and Candida tropicalis through an "One Health" approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ricardo Lima
- Special Mycology Laboratory, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Felipe C. Ribeiro
- Special Mycology Laboratory, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Arnaldo L. Colombo
- Special Mycology Laboratory, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Joăo N. de Almeida
- Special Mycology Laboratory, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
- Clinical Laboratory, Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo, Brazil
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Titration of C-5 Sterol Desaturase Activity Reveals Its Relationship to Candida albicans Virulence and Antifungal Susceptibility Is Dependent upon Host Immune Status. mBio 2022; 13:e0011522. [PMID: 35380453 PMCID: PMC9040724 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.00115-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The azole antifungals inhibit sterol 14α-demethylase (S14DM), which depletes cellular ergosterol and promotes synthesis of the dysfunctional lipid 14α-methylergosta-8,24(28)-dien-3β,6α-diol, ultimately arresting growth. Mutations that inactivate sterol Δ5,6-desaturase (Erg3p), the enzyme that produces the sterol-diol upon S14DM inhibition, enhances Candida albicans growth in the presence of the azoles. However, erg3 null mutants are sensitive to some physiological stresses and can be less virulent than the wild type. These fitness defects may disfavor the selection of null mutants within patients. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between Erg3p activity, C. albicans pathogenicity, and the efficacy of azole therapy. An isogenic panel of strains was constructed that produce various levels of the ERG3 transcript. Analysis of the sterol composition confirmed a correspondingly wide range of Erg3p activity. Phenotypic analysis revealed that even moderate reductions in Erg3p activity are sufficient to greatly enhance C. albicans growth in the presence of fluconazole in vitro without impacting fitness. Moreover, even low levels of Erg3p activity are sufficient to support full virulence of C. albicans in the mouse model of disseminated infection. Finally, while the antifungal efficacy of fluconazole was similar for all strains in immunocompetent mice, there was an inverse correlation between Erg3p activity and the capacity of C. albicans to endure treatment in leukopenic mice. Collectively, these results establish that relative levels of Erg3p activity determine the antifungal efficacy of the azoles upon C. albicans and reveal the critical importance of host immunity in determining the clinical impact of this resistance mechanism. IMPORTANCE Mutations that completely inactivate Erg3p enable the prevalent human pathogen C. albicans to endure the azole antifungals in vitro. However, such null mutants are less frequently identified in azole-resistant clinical isolates than other resistance mechanisms, and previous studies have reported conflicting outcomes regarding antifungal resistance of these mutants in animal models of infection. The results of this study clearly establish a direct correlation between the level of Erg3p activity and the antifungal efficacy of fluconazole within a susceptible mammalian host. In addition, low levels of Erg3p activity are apparently more advantageous for C. albicans survival of azole therapy than complete loss of function. These findings suggest a more nuanced but more important role for Erg3p as a determinant of the clinical efficacy of the azole antifungals than previously appreciated. A revised model of the relationship between Erg3p activity, host immunity, and the antifungal susceptibility of C. albicans is proposed.
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14
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Species-Specific Differences in C-5 Sterol Desaturase Function Influence the Outcome of Azole Antifungal Exposure. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2021; 65:e0104421. [PMID: 34516249 DOI: 10.1128/aac.01044-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The azole antifungals inhibit sterol 14α-demethylase (S14DM), leading to depletion of cellular ergosterol and the synthesis of an aberrant sterol diol that disrupts membrane function. In Candida albicans, sterol diol production is catalyzed by the C-5 sterol desaturase enzyme encoded by ERG3. Accordingly, mutations that inactivate ERG3 enable the fungus to grow in the presence of the azoles. The purpose of this study was to compare the propensities of C-5 sterol desaturases from different fungal pathogens to produce the toxic diol upon S14DM inhibition and thus contribute to antifungal efficacy. The coding sequences of ERG3 homologs from C. albicans (CaERG3), Candida glabrata (CgERG3), Candida auris (CaurERG3), Cryptococcus neoformans (CnERG3), Aspergillus fumigatus (AfERG3A-C) and Rhizopus delemar (RdERG3A/B) were expressed in a C. albicans erg3Δ/Δ mutant to facilitate comparative analysis. All but one of the Erg3p-like proteins (AfErg3C) at least partially restored C-5 sterol desaturase activity and to corresponding degrees rescued the stress and hyphal growth defects of the C. albicans erg3Δ/Δ mutant, confirming functional equivalence. Each C-5 desaturase enzyme conferred markedly different responses to fluconazole exposure in terms of the MIC and residual growth observed at supra-MICs. Upon fluconazole-mediated inhibition of S14DM, the strains expressing each homolog also produced various levels of 14α-methylergosta-8,24(28)-dien-3β,6α-diol. The RdErg3A and AfErg3A proteins are notable for low levels of sterol diol production and failing to confer appreciable azole sensitivity upon the C. albicans erg3Δ/Δ mutant. These findings suggest that species-specific properties of C-5 sterol desaturase may be an important determinant of intrinsic azole sensitivity.
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15
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Hoenigl M, Sprute R, Egger M, Arastehfar A, Cornely OA, Krause R, Lass-Flörl C, Prattes J, Spec A, Thompson GR, Wiederhold N, Jenks JD. The Antifungal Pipeline: Fosmanogepix, Ibrexafungerp, Olorofim, Opelconazole, and Rezafungin. Drugs 2021; 81:1703-1729. [PMID: 34626339 PMCID: PMC8501344 DOI: 10.1007/s40265-021-01611-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 170] [Impact Index Per Article: 56.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/09/2021] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
The epidemiology of invasive fungal infections is changing, with new populations at risk and the emergence of resistance caused by the selective pressure from increased usage of antifungal agents in prophylaxis, empiric therapy, and agriculture. Limited antifungal therapeutic options are further challenged by drug-drug interactions, toxicity, and constraints in administration routes. Despite the need for more antifungal drug options, no new classes of antifungal drugs have become available over the last 2 decades, and only one single new agent from a known antifungal class has been approved in the last decade. Nevertheless, there is hope on the horizon, with a number of new antifungal classes in late-stage clinical development. In this review, we describe the mechanisms of drug resistance employed by fungi and extensively discuss the most promising drugs in development, including fosmanogepix (a novel Gwt1 enzyme inhibitor), ibrexafungerp (a first-in-class triterpenoid), olorofim (a novel dihyroorotate dehydrogenase enzyme inhibitor), opelconazole (a novel triazole optimized for inhalation), and rezafungin (an echinocandin designed to be dosed once weekly). We focus on the mechanism of action and pharmacokinetics, as well as the spectrum of activity and stages of clinical development. We also highlight the potential future role of these drugs and unmet needs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Hoenigl
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 15, 8036, Graz, Austria.
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, San Diego, CA, USA.
- Clinical and Translational Fungal-Working Group, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, San Diego, CA, USA.
| | - Rosanne Sprute
- Department I of Internal Medicine, Excellence Center for Medical Mycology (ECMM), University Hospital Cologne, Faculty of Medicine, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
- Chair Translational Research, Cologne Excellence Cluster on Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases (CECAD), University Hospital Cologne, Faculty of Medicine, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
- German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Bonn-Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Matthias Egger
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 15, 8036, Graz, Austria
| | - Amir Arastehfar
- Center for Discovery and Innovation, Hackensack Meridian Health, Nutley, NJ, USA
| | - Oliver A Cornely
- Department I of Internal Medicine, Excellence Center for Medical Mycology (ECMM), University Hospital Cologne, Faculty of Medicine, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
- Chair Translational Research, Cologne Excellence Cluster on Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases (CECAD), University Hospital Cologne, Faculty of Medicine, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
- German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Bonn-Cologne, Cologne, Germany
- Clinical Trials Centre Cologne (ZKS Köln), University Hospital Cologne, Faculty of Medicine, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Robert Krause
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 15, 8036, Graz, Austria
| | - Cornelia Lass-Flörl
- Institute of Hygiene and Medical Microbiology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Juergen Prattes
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 15, 8036, Graz, Austria
| | - Andrej Spec
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MI, USA
| | - George R Thompson
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Departments of Internal Medicine and Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of California Davis Medical Center, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Nathan Wiederhold
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA
| | - Jeffrey D Jenks
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, San Diego, CA, USA
- Clinical and Translational Fungal-Working Group, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, San Diego, CA, USA
- Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, San Diego, CA, USA
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16
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Arastehfar A, Carvalho A, Houbraken J, Lombardi L, Garcia-Rubio R, Jenks J, Rivero-Menendez O, Aljohani R, Jacobsen I, Berman J, Osherov N, Hedayati M, Ilkit M, Armstrong-James D, Gabaldón T, Meletiadis J, Kostrzewa M, Pan W, Lass-Flörl C, Perlin D, Hoenigl M. Aspergillus fumigatus and aspergillosis: From basics to clinics. Stud Mycol 2021; 100:100115. [PMID: 34035866 PMCID: PMC8131930 DOI: 10.1016/j.simyco.2021.100115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 99] [Impact Index Per Article: 33.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The airborne fungus Aspergillus fumigatus poses a serious health threat to humans by causing numerous invasive infections and a notable mortality in humans, especially in immunocompromised patients. Mould-active azoles are the frontline therapeutics employed to treat aspergillosis. The global emergence of azole-resistant A. fumigatus isolates in clinic and environment, however, notoriously limits the therapeutic options of mould-active antifungals and potentially can be attributed to a mortality rate reaching up to 100 %. Although specific mutations in CYP 51A are the main cause of azole resistance, there is a new wave of azole-resistant isolates with wild-type CYP 51A genotype challenging the efficacy of the current diagnostic tools. Therefore, applications of whole-genome sequencing are increasingly gaining popularity to overcome such challenges. Prominent echinocandin tolerance, as well as liver and kidney toxicity posed by amphotericin B, necessitate a continuous quest for novel antifungal drugs to combat emerging azole-resistant A. fumigatus isolates. Animal models and the tools used for genetic engineering require further refinement to facilitate a better understanding about the resistance mechanisms, virulence, and immune reactions orchestrated against A. fumigatus. This review paper comprehensively discusses the current clinical challenges caused by A. fumigatus and provides insights on how to address them.
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Affiliation(s)
- A. Arastehfar
- Center for Discovery and Innovation, Hackensack Meridian Health, Nutley, NJ, 07110, USA
| | - A. Carvalho
- Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Medicine, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
- ICVS/3B's - PT Government Associate Laboratory, Guimarães/Braga, Portugal
| | - J. Houbraken
- Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - L. Lombardi
- UCD Conway Institute and School of Medicine, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland
| | - R. Garcia-Rubio
- Center for Discovery and Innovation, Hackensack Meridian Health, Nutley, NJ, 07110, USA
| | - J.D. Jenks
- Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, 92103, USA
- Clinical and Translational Fungal-Working Group, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA
| | - O. Rivero-Menendez
- Medical Mycology Reference Laboratory, National Center for Microbiology, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, 28222, Spain
| | - R. Aljohani
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - I.D. Jacobsen
- Department of Microbial Pathogenicity Mechanisms, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology—Hans Knöll Institute, Jena, Germany
- Institute for Microbiology, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
| | - J. Berman
- Research Group Microbial Immunology, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology—Hans Knöll Institute, Jena, Germany
| | - N. Osherov
- Department of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology, Sackler School of Medicine Ramat-Aviv, Tel-Aviv, 69978, Israel
| | - M.T. Hedayati
- Invasive Fungi Research Center/Department of Medical Mycology, School of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
| | - M. Ilkit
- Division of Mycology, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Çukurova University, 01330, Adana, Turkey
| | | | - T. Gabaldón
- Life Sciences Programme, Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS), Jordi Girona, Barcelona, 08034, Spain
- Mechanisms of Disease Programme, Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB), Barcelona, Spain
- ICREA, Pg. Lluís Companys 23, Barcelona, Spain
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Pg. Lluís Companys 23, 08010, Barcelona, Spain
| | - J. Meletiadis
- Clinical Microbiology Laboratory, Attikon University Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | | | - W. Pan
- Medical Mycology, Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, 200003, China
| | - C. Lass-Flörl
- Institute of Hygiene and Medical Microbiology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - D.S. Perlin
- Center for Discovery and Innovation, Hackensack Meridian Health, Nutley, NJ, 07110, USA
| | - M. Hoenigl
- Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, 92103, USA
- Section of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical University of Graz, 8036, Graz, Austria
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA 92093, USA
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17
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Mechanisms of Azole Resistance and Trailing in Candida tropicalis Bloodstream Isolates. J Fungi (Basel) 2021; 7:jof7080612. [PMID: 34436151 PMCID: PMC8396981 DOI: 10.3390/jof7080612] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2021] [Revised: 07/25/2021] [Accepted: 07/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Objectives: Azole-resistant Candida tropicalis has emerged in Asia in the context of its trailing nature, defined by residual growth above minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs). However, limited investigations in C. tropicalis have focused on the difference of genotypes and molecular mechanisms between these two traits. Methods: Sixty-four non-duplicated C. tropicalis bloodstream isolates collected in 2017 were evaluated for azole MICs by the EUCAST E.def 7.3.1 method, diploid sequence type (DST) by multilocus sequencing typing, and sequences and expression levels of genes encoding ERG11, its transcription factor, UPC2, and efflux pumps (CDR1, CDR2 and MDR1). Results: Isavuconazole showed the highest in vitro activity and trailing against C. tropicalis, followed by voriconazole and fluconazole (geometric mean [GM] MIC, 0.008, 0.090, 1.163 mg/L, respectively; trailing GM, 27.4%, 20.8% and 19.5%, respectively; both overall p < 0.001). Fourteen (21.9%) isolates were non-WT to fluconazole/voriconazole, 12 of which were non-WT to isavuconazole and clustered in clonal complex (CC) 3. Twenty-five (39.1%) isolates were high trailing WT, including all CC2 isolates (44.0%) (containing DST140 and DST98). All azole non-WT isolates carried the ERG11 mutations A395T/W and/or C461T/Y, and most carried the UPC2 mutation T503C/Y. These mutations were not identified in low and high trailing WT isolates. Azole non-WT and high trailing WT isolates exhibited the highest expression levels of ERG11 and MDR1, 3.91- and 2.30-fold, respectively (both overall p < 0.01). Conclusions: Azole resistance and trailing are phenotypically and genotypically different in C. tropicalis. Interference with azole binding and MDR1 up-regulation confer azole resistance and trailing, respectively.
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Abstract
Candida albicans is a prevalent opportunistic human fungal pathogen for which treatment is limited to only four main classes of antifungal drugs, with the azole and echinocandin classes being used most frequently. Drug tolerance, the ability of some cells to grow slowly in supra-MIC drug concentrations, decreases the number of available treatment options. Here, we investigated factors affecting tolerance and resistance to ketoconazole in C. albicans. We found both temperature and the composition of growth medium significantly affected tolerance with little effect on resistance. In deletion analysis of known efflux pump genes, CDR1 was partially required for azole tolerance, while CDR2 and MDR1 were dispensable. Tolerance also required Hsp90 and calcineurin components; CRZ1, which encodes a transcription factor downstream of calcineurin, was required only partially. Deletion of VMA11, which encodes a vacuolar ATPase subunit, and concanamycin A, a V-ATPase inhibitor, abolished tolerance, indicating the importance of vacuolar energy transactions in tolerance. Thus, tolerance to ketoconazole is regulated by multiple factors, including physiological and genetic mechanisms. IMPORTANCE Due to the ever-expanding range of invasive medical procedures and treatments, invasive fungal infections now pose a serious global threat to many people living in an immunocompromised status. Like humans, fungi are eukaryotic, which significantly limits the number of unique antifungal targets; the current arsenal of antifungal agents is limited to just three frontline drug classes. Additional treatment complexities result from the development of drug tolerance and resistance, which further narrows therapeutic options; however, the difference between tolerance and resistance remains largely unknown. This study demonstrates that tolerance and resistance are regulated by multiple genetic and physiological factors. It is prudent to note that some factors affect tolerance only, while other factors affect both tolerance and resistance. The complex underlying mechanisms of these drug responses are highlighted by the fact that there are both shared and distinct mechanisms that regulate tolerance and resistance.
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19
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Arastehfar A, Kargar ML, Mohammadi SR, Roudbary M, Ghods N, Haghighi L, Daneshnia F, Tavakoli M, Jafarzadeh J, Hedayati MT, Wang H, Fang W, Carvalho A, Ilkit M, Perlin DS, Lass-Flörl C. A High Rate of Recurrent Vulvovaginal Candidiasis and Therapeutic Failure of Azole Derivatives Among Iranian Women. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:655069. [PMID: 33995315 PMCID: PMC8113757 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.655069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2021] [Accepted: 03/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis (RVVC) is one of the most prevalent fungal infections in humans, especially in developing countries; however, it is underestimated and regarded as an easy-to-treat condition. RVVC may be caused by dysbiosis of the microbiome and other host-, pathogen-, and antifungal drug-related factors. Although multiple studies on host-related factors affecting the outcome have been conducted, such studies on Candida-derived factors and their association with RVVC are lacking. Thus, fluconazole-tolerant (FLZT) isolates may cause fluconazole therapeutic failure (FTF), but this concept has not been assessed in the context of Candida-associated vaginitis. Iran is among the countries with the highest burden of RVVC; however, comprehensive studies detailing the clinical and microbiological features of this complication are scarce. Therefore, we conducted a 1-year prospective study with the aim to determine the RVVC burden among women referred to a gynecology hospital in Tehran, the association of the previous exposure to clotrimazole and fluconazole with the emergence of FLZT and fluconazole-resistant (FLZR) Candida isolates, and the relevance of these phenotypes to FTF. The results indicated that about 53% of the patients (43/81) experienced RVVC. Candida albicans and C. glabrata constituted approximately 90% of the yeast isolates (72 patients). Except for one FLZT C. tropicalis isolate, FLZR and FLZT phenotypes were detected exclusively in patients with RVVC; among them, 27.9% (12/43) harbored FLZR strains. C. albicans constituted 81.2% of FLZR (13/16) and 100% of the FLZT (13/13) isolates, respectively, and both phenotypes were likely responsible for FTF, which was also observed among patients with RVVC infected with fluconazole-susceptible isolates. Thus, FTF could be due to host-, drug-, and pathogen-related characteristics. Our study indicates that FLZT and FLZR isolates may arise following the exposure to over-the-counter (OTC) topical azole (clotrimazole) and that both phenotypes can cause FTF. Therefore, the widespread use of OTC azoles can influence fluconazole therapeutic success, highlighting the necessity of controlling the use of weak topical antifungals among Iranian women.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amir Arastehfar
- Center for Discovery and Innovation, Hackensack Meridian Health, Nutley, NJ, United States
| | - Melika Laal Kargar
- Department of Mycology, Faculty of Medical Science, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
| | | | - Maryam Roudbary
- Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Nayereh Ghods
- Department of Mycology, Faculty of Medical Science, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Ladan Haghighi
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Farnaz Daneshnia
- Center for Discovery and Innovation, Hackensack Meridian Health, Nutley, NJ, United States
| | - Mahin Tavakoli
- Department of Mycology, Faculty of Medical Science, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Jalal Jafarzadeh
- Department of Medical Mycology and Parasitology, School of Medicine, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran
| | - Mohammad Taghi Hedayati
- Invasive Fungi Research Center, Department of Medical Mycology, School of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
| | - Huiwei Wang
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Medical Mycology, Shanghai Institute of Mycology, Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China.,Department of Dermatology, Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Wenjie Fang
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Medical Mycology, Shanghai Institute of Mycology, Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China.,Department of Dermatology, Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Agostinho Carvalho
- Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Medicine, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal.,ICVS/3B's - PT Government Associate Laboratory, Guimarães/Braga, Portugal
| | - Macit Ilkit
- Division of Mycology, University of Çukurova, Adana, Turkey
| | - David S Perlin
- Center for Discovery and Innovation, Hackensack Meridian Health, Nutley, NJ, United States
| | - Cornelia Lass-Flörl
- Division of Hygiene and Medical Microbiology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
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20
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Bibi M, Murphy S, Benhamou RI, Rosenberg A, Ulman A, Bicanic T, Fridman M, Berman J. Combining Colistin and Fluconazole Synergistically Increases Fungal Membrane Permeability and Antifungal Cidality. ACS Infect Dis 2021; 7:377-389. [PMID: 33471513 PMCID: PMC7887753 DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.0c00721] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
The increasing emergence of drug-resistant fungal pathogens, together with the limited number of available antifungal drugs, presents serious clinical challenges to treating systemic, life-threatening infections. Repurposing existing drugs to augment the antifungal activity of well-tolerated antifungals is a promising antifungal strategy with the potential to be implemented rapidly. Here, we explored the mechanism by which colistin, a positively charged lipopeptide antibiotic, enhances the antifungal activity of fluconazole, the most widely used orally available antifungal. In a range of susceptible and drug-resistant isolates and species, colistin was primarily effective at reducing fluconazole tolerance, a property of subpopulations of cells that grow slowly in the presence of a drug and may promote the emergence of persistent infections and resistance. Clinically relevant concentrations of colistin synergized with fluconazole, reducing fluconazole minimum inhibitory concentration 4-fold. Combining fluconazole and colistin also increased survival in a C. albicans Galleria mellonella infection, especially for a highly fluconazole-tolerant isolate. Mechanistically, colistin increased permeability to fluorescent antifungal azole probes and to intracellular dyes, accompanied by an increase in cell death that was dependent upon pharmacological or genetic inhibition of the ergosterol biosynthesis pathway. The positive charge of colistin is critical to its antifungal, and antibacterial, activity: colistin directly binds to several eukaryotic membrane lipids (i.e., l-α-phosphatidylinositol, l-α-phosphatidyl-l-serine, and l-α-phosphatidylethanolamine) that are enriched in the membranes of ergosterol-depleted cells. These results support the idea that colistin binds to fungal membrane lipids and permeabilizes fungal cells in a manner that depends upon the degree of ergosterol depletion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maayan Bibi
- Shmunis
School of Biomedical and Cancer Research, George S. Wise Faculty of
Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Sarah Murphy
- Institute
for Infection and Immunity, St George’s
University, Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE, United Kingdom
| | - Raphael I. Benhamou
- School
of Chemistry, Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Alex Rosenberg
- Shmunis
School of Biomedical and Cancer Research, George S. Wise Faculty of
Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Adi Ulman
- Shmunis
School of Biomedical and Cancer Research, George S. Wise Faculty of
Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Tihana Bicanic
- Institute
for Infection and Immunity, St George’s
University, Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE, United Kingdom
- Clinical
Academic Group in Infection, St George’s
Hospital NHS Trust, London SW17 0QT, United Kingdom
| | - Micha Fridman
- School
of Chemistry, Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Judith Berman
- Shmunis
School of Biomedical and Cancer Research, George S. Wise Faculty of
Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv 6997801, Israel
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21
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Arastehfar A, Gabaldón T, Garcia-Rubio R, Jenks JD, Hoenigl M, Salzer HJF, Ilkit M, Lass-Flörl C, Perlin DS. Drug-Resistant Fungi: An Emerging Challenge Threatening Our Limited Antifungal Armamentarium. Antibiotics (Basel) 2020; 9:antibiotics9120877. [PMID: 33302565 PMCID: PMC7764418 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics9120877] [Citation(s) in RCA: 91] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2020] [Revised: 11/02/2020] [Accepted: 12/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The high clinical mortality and economic burden posed by invasive fungal infections (IFIs), along with significant agricultural crop loss caused by various fungal species, has resulted in the widespread use of antifungal agents. Selective drug pressure, fungal attributes, and host- and drug-related factors have counteracted the efficacy of the limited systemic antifungal drugs and changed the epidemiological landscape of IFIs. Species belonging to Candida, Aspergillus, Cryptococcus, and Pneumocystis are among the fungal pathogens showing notable rates of antifungal resistance. Drug-resistant fungi from the environment are increasingly identified in clinical settings. Furthermore, we have a limited understanding of drug class-specific resistance mechanisms in emerging Candida species. The establishment of antifungal stewardship programs in both clinical and agricultural fields and the inclusion of species identification, antifungal susceptibility testing, and therapeutic drug monitoring practices in the clinic can minimize the emergence of drug-resistant fungi. New antifungal drugs featuring promising therapeutic profiles have great promise to treat drug-resistant fungi in the clinical setting. Mitigating antifungal tolerance, a prelude to the emergence of resistance, also requires the development of effective and fungal-specific adjuvants to be used in combination with systemic antifungals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amir Arastehfar
- Center for Discovery and Innovation, Hackensack Meridian Health, Nutley, NJ 07110, USA; (A.A.); (R.G.-R.)
| | - Toni Gabaldón
- Life Sciences Programme, Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS), Jordi Girona, 08034 Barcelona, Spain;
- Mechanisms of Disease Programme, Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB), 08024 Barcelona, Spain
- Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies. Pg. Lluís Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Rocio Garcia-Rubio
- Center for Discovery and Innovation, Hackensack Meridian Health, Nutley, NJ 07110, USA; (A.A.); (R.G.-R.)
| | - Jeffrey D. Jenks
- Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA 92103, USA;
- Clinical and Translational Fungal-Working Group, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA;
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Martin Hoenigl
- Clinical and Translational Fungal-Working Group, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA;
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
- Section of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical University of Graz, 8036 Graz, Austria
| | | | - Macit Ilkit
- Division of Mycology, University of Çukurova, 01330 Adana, Turkey
- Correspondence: (M.I.); (D.S.P.); Tel.: +90-532-286-0099 (M.I.); +1-201-880-3100 (D.S.P.)
| | - Cornelia Lass-Flörl
- Institute of Hygiene and Medical Microbiology, Medical University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria;
| | - David S. Perlin
- Center for Discovery and Innovation, Hackensack Meridian Health, Nutley, NJ 07110, USA; (A.A.); (R.G.-R.)
- Correspondence: (M.I.); (D.S.P.); Tel.: +90-532-286-0099 (M.I.); +1-201-880-3100 (D.S.P.)
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22
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Delarze E, Brandt L, Trachsel E, Patxot M, Pralong C, Maranzano F, Chauvel M, Legrand M, Znaidi S, Bougnoux ME, d’Enfert C, Sanglard D. Identification and Characterization of Mediators of Fluconazole Tolerance in Candida albicans. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:591140. [PMID: 33262748 PMCID: PMC7686038 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.591140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2020] [Accepted: 10/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Candida albicans is an important human pathogen and a major concern in intensive care units around the world. C. albicans infections are associated with a high mortality despite the use of antifungal treatments. One of the causes of therapeutic failures is the acquisition of antifungal resistance by mutations in the C. albicans genome. Fluconazole (FLC) is one of the most widely used antifungal and mechanisms of FLC resistance occurring by mutations have been extensively investigated. However, some clinical isolates are known to be able to survive at high FLC concentrations without acquiring resistance mutations, a phenotype known as tolerance. Mechanisms behind FLC tolerance are not well studied, mainly due to the lack of a proper way to identify and quantify tolerance in clinical isolates. We proposed here culture conditions to investigate FLC tolerance as well as an easy and efficient method to identity and quantify tolerance to FLC. The screening of C. albicans strain collections revealed that FLC tolerance is pH- and strain-dependent, suggesting the involvement of multiple mechanisms. Here, we addressed the identification of FLC tolerance mediators in C. albicans by an overexpression strategy focusing on 572 C. albicans genes. This strategy led to the identification of two transcription factors, CRZ1 and GZF3. CRZ1 is a C2H2-type transcription factor that is part of the calcineurin-dependent pathway in C. albicans, while GZF3 is a GATA-type transcription factor of unknown function in C. albicans. Overexpression of each gene resulted in an increase of FLC tolerance, however, only the deletion of CRZ1 in clinical FLC-tolerant strains consistently decreased their FLC tolerance. Transcription profiling of clinical isolates with variable levels of FLC tolerance confirmed a calcineurin-dependent signature in these isolates when exposed to FLC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric Delarze
- Department of Laboratory, Institute of Microbiology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Ludivine Brandt
- Department of Laboratory, Institute of Microbiology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Emilie Trachsel
- Department of Laboratory, Institute of Microbiology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Marion Patxot
- Department of Computational Biology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Claire Pralong
- Department of Laboratory, Institute of Microbiology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Fabio Maranzano
- Department of Laboratory, Institute of Microbiology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Murielle Chauvel
- Unité Biologie et Pathogénicité Fongiques, Département de Mycologie, Institut Pasteur, USC 2019 INRA, Paris, France
| | - Mélanie Legrand
- Unité Biologie et Pathogénicité Fongiques, Département de Mycologie, Institut Pasteur, USC 2019 INRA, Paris, France
| | - Sadri Znaidi
- Unité Biologie et Pathogénicité Fongiques, Département de Mycologie, Institut Pasteur, USC 2019 INRA, Paris, France
| | - Marie-Elisabeth Bougnoux
- Unité Biologie et Pathogénicité Fongiques, Département de Mycologie, Institut Pasteur, USC 2019 INRA, Paris, France
- Unité de Parasitologie-Mycologie, Service de Microbiologie Clinique, Hôpital Necker-Enfants-Malades, Assistance Publique des Hôpitaux de Paris (APHP), Paris, France
- Université de Paris, Paris, France
| | - Christophe d’Enfert
- Unité Biologie et Pathogénicité Fongiques, Département de Mycologie, Institut Pasteur, USC 2019 INRA, Paris, France
| | - Dominique Sanglard
- Department of Laboratory, Institute of Microbiology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
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23
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Arastehfar A, Hilmioğlu-Polat S, Daneshnia F, Hafez A, Salehi M, Polat F, Yaşar M, Arslan N, Hoşbul T, Ünal N, Metin DY, Gürcan Ş, Birinci A, Koç AN, Pan W, Ilkit M, Perlin DS, Lass-Flörl C. Recent Increase in the Prevalence of Fluconazole-Non-susceptible Candida tropicalis Blood Isolates in Turkey: Clinical Implication of Azole-Non-susceptible and Fluconazole Tolerant Phenotypes and Genotyping. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:587278. [PMID: 33123116 PMCID: PMC7573116 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.587278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2020] [Accepted: 09/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Candida tropicalis is the fourth leading cause of candidemia in Turkey. Although C. tropicalis isolates from 1997 to 2017 were characterized as fully susceptible to antifungals, the increasing global prevalence of azole-non-susceptible (ANS) C. tropicalis and the association between high fluconazole tolerance (HFT) and fluconazole therapeutic failure (FTF) prompted us to re-evaluate azole susceptibility of C. tropicalis in Turkey. In this study, 161 C. tropicalis blood isolates from seven clinical centers were identified by ITS rDNA sequencing, genotyped by multilocus microsatellite typing, and tested for susceptibility to five azoles, two echinocandins, and amphotericin B (AMB); antifungal resistance mechanisms were assessed by sequencing of ERG11 and FKS1 genes. The results indicated that C. tropicalis isolates, which belonged to 125 genotypes grouped into 11 clusters, were fully susceptible to echinocandins and AMB; however, 18.6% of them had the ANS phenotype but only two carried the ANS-conferring mutation (Y132F). HFT was recorded in 52 isolates, 10 of which were also ANS. Large proportions of patients infected with ANS and HFT isolates (89 and 40.7%, respectively) showed FTF. Patients infected with azole-susceptible or ANS isolates did not differ in mortality, which, however, was significantly lower for those infected with HFT isolates (P = 0.007). There were significant differences in mortality (P = 0.02), ANS (P = 0.012), and HFT (P = 0.007) among genotype clusters. The alarming increase in the prevalence of C. tropicalis blood isolates with ANS and HFT in Turkey and the notable FTF rate should be a matter of public health concern.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amir Arastehfar
- Center for Discovery and Innovation, Hackensack Meridian Health, Nutley, NJ, United States
| | | | | | | | - Mohammadreza Salehi
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Furkan Polat
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey
| | - Melike Yaşar
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey
| | - Nazlı Arslan
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey
| | - Tuğrul Hoşbul
- Department of Microbiology, Gulhane Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Nevzat Ünal
- Division of Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, Çukurova University, Adana, Turkey.,Department of Microbiology, Adana City Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Adana, Turkey
| | - Dilek Yeşim Metin
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey
| | - Şaban Gürcan
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Trakya University, Edirne, Turkey
| | - Asuman Birinci
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Ondokuz Mayis University, Samsun, Turkey
| | - Ayşe Nedret Koç
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey
| | - Weihua Pan
- Shanghai Key Laboratory Molecular Medical Mycology, Shanghai, China
| | - Macit Ilkit
- Division of Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, Çukurova University, Adana, Turkey
| | - David S Perlin
- Center for Discovery and Innovation, Hackensack Meridian Health, Nutley, NJ, United States
| | - Cornelia Lass-Flörl
- Division of Hygiene and Medical Microbiology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
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24
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Arastehfar A, Lass-Flörl C, Garcia-Rubio R, Daneshnia F, Ilkit M, Boekhout T, Gabaldon T, Perlin DS. The Quiet and Underappreciated Rise of Drug-Resistant Invasive Fungal Pathogens. J Fungi (Basel) 2020; 6:E138. [PMID: 32824785 PMCID: PMC7557958 DOI: 10.3390/jof6030138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2020] [Revised: 07/22/2020] [Accepted: 08/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Human fungal pathogens are attributable to a significant economic burden and mortality worldwide. Antifungal treatments, although limited in number, play a pivotal role in decreasing mortality and morbidities posed by invasive fungal infections (IFIs). However, the recent emergence of multidrug-resistant Candida auris and Candida glabrata and acquiring invasive infections due to azole-resistant C. parapsilosis, C. tropicalis, and Aspergillus spp. in azole-naïve patients pose a serious health threat considering the limited number of systemic antifungals available to treat IFIs. Although advancing for major fungal pathogens, the understanding of fungal attributes contributing to antifungal resistance is just emerging for several clinically important MDR fungal pathogens. Further complicating the matter are the distinct differences in antifungal resistance mechanisms among various fungal species in which one or more mechanisms may contribute to the resistance phenotype. In this review, we attempt to summarize the burden of antifungal resistance for selected non-albicansCandida and clinically important Aspergillus species together with their phylogenetic placement on the tree of life. Moreover, we highlight the different molecular mechanisms between antifungal tolerance and resistance, and comprehensively discuss the molecular mechanisms of antifungal resistance in a species level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amir Arastehfar
- Center for Discovery and Innovation, Hackensack Meridian Health, Nutley, NJ 07110, USA;
| | - Cornelia Lass-Flörl
- Institute of Hygiene and Medical Microbiology, Medical University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria;
| | - Rocio Garcia-Rubio
- Center for Discovery and Innovation, Hackensack Meridian Health, Nutley, NJ 07110, USA;
| | - Farnaz Daneshnia
- Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands; (F.D.); (T.B.)
| | - Macit Ilkit
- Division of Mycology, University of Çukurova, 01330 Adana, Turkey;
| | - Teun Boekhout
- Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands; (F.D.); (T.B.)
- Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), University of Amsterdam, 1012 WX Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Toni Gabaldon
- Life Sciences Programme, Barcelona, Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS), Jordi Girona, 08034 Barcelona, Spain;
- Mechanisms of Disease Programme, Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB), 08024 Barcelona, Spain
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), 08010 Barcelona, Spain
| | - David S. Perlin
- Center for Discovery and Innovation, Hackensack Meridian Health, Nutley, NJ 07110, USA;
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25
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Candida albicans Genetic Background Influences Mean and Heterogeneity of Drug Responses and Genome Stability during Evolution in Fluconazole. mSphere 2020; 5:5/3/e00480-20. [PMID: 32581072 PMCID: PMC7316494 DOI: 10.1128/msphere.00480-20] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance is an evolutionary phenomenon with clinical implications. We tested how replicates from diverse strains of Candida albicans, a prevalent human fungal pathogen, evolve in the commonly prescribed antifungal drug fluconazole. Replicates on average increased in fitness in the level of drug they were evolved to, with the least fit parental strains improving the most. Very few replicates increased resistance above the drug level they were evolved in. Notably, many replicates increased in genome size and changed in drug tolerance (a drug response where a subpopulation of cells grow slowly in high levels of drug), and variability among replicates in fitness, tolerance, and genome size was higher in strains that initially were more sensitive to the drug. Genetic background influenced the average degree of adaptation and the evolved variability of many phenotypes, highlighting that different strains from the same species may respond and adapt very differently during adaptation. The importance of within-species diversity in determining the evolutionary potential of a population to evolve drug resistance or tolerance is not well understood, including in eukaryotic pathogens. To examine the influence of genetic background, we evolved replicates of 20 different clinical isolates of Candida albicans, a human fungal pathogen, in fluconazole, the commonly used antifungal drug. The isolates hailed from the major C. albicans clades and had different initial levels of drug resistance and tolerance to the drug. The majority of replicates rapidly increased in fitness in the evolutionary environment, with the degree of improvement inversely correlated with parental strain fitness in the drug. Improvement was largely restricted to up to the evolutionary level of drug: only 4% of the evolved replicates increased resistance (MIC) above the evolutionary level of drug. Prevalent changes were altered levels of drug tolerance (slow growth of a subpopulation of cells at drug concentrations above the MIC) and increased diversity of genome size. The prevalence and predominant direction of these changes differed in a strain-specific manner, but neither correlated directly with parental fitness or improvement in fitness. Rather, low parental strain fitness was correlated with high levels of heterogeneity in fitness, tolerance, and genome size among evolved replicates. Thus, parental strain background is an important determinant in mean improvement to the evolutionary environment as well as the diversity of evolved phenotypes, and the range of possible responses of a pathogen to an antimicrobial drug cannot be captured by in-depth study of a single strain background. IMPORTANCE Antimicrobial resistance is an evolutionary phenomenon with clinical implications. We tested how replicates from diverse strains of Candida albicans, a prevalent human fungal pathogen, evolve in the commonly prescribed antifungal drug fluconazole. Replicates on average increased in fitness in the level of drug they were evolved to, with the least fit parental strains improving the most. Very few replicates increased resistance above the drug level they were evolved in. Notably, many replicates increased in genome size and changed in drug tolerance (a drug response where a subpopulation of cells grow slowly in high levels of drug), and variability among replicates in fitness, tolerance, and genome size was higher in strains that initially were more sensitive to the drug. Genetic background influenced the average degree of adaptation and the evolved variability of many phenotypes, highlighting that different strains from the same species may respond and adapt very differently during adaptation.
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26
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Abstract
Systemic fungal infections pose a serious clinical problem. Treatment options are limited, and antifungal drug resistance is increasing. In addition, a substantial proportion of patients do not respond to therapy despite being infected with fungi that are susceptible to the drug. The discordance between overall treatment outcome and low levels of clinical resistance may be attributable to antifungal drug tolerance. In this Review, we define and distinguish resistance and tolerance and discuss the current understanding of the molecular, genetic and physiological mechanisms that contribute to those phenomena. Distinguishing tolerance from resistance might provide important insights into the reasons for treatment failure in some settings.
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