Emericella nidulans as an agent of guttural pouch mycosis in a horse

A case is reported in a 9-year-old Anglo-Arab horse with guttural pouch mycosis caused by Emericella nidulans. Acute death occurred by exsanguination following erosion of the external carotid artery. Histopathological examination of the mycotic plaque demonstrated septate hyphae, conidial heads, hülle cells and mature cleistothecia containing characteristic ascospores. Specific identification was confirmed by culture. In accordance with previous reports, Emericella nidulans should be considered as the major agent of guttural pouch mycosis in Equidae.

Disseminated Scedosporium prolificans (S. inflatum) infection after single-lung transplantation

This report concerns the first case of disseminated infection with Scedosporium prolificans (S. inflatum) that occurred in a patient who had received an organ transplant and was verified at autopsy. The patient underwent single (right)-lung transplantation and subsequently died on the 33rd postoperative day in a context of septic shock. S. prolificans was isolated from various specimens, including two cultured blood samples. The organism was associated with Candida albicans in some of these specimens. Autopsy revealed the presence of numerous nodular abscesses in the lungs, myocardium, kidneys, spleen, and gall bladder. These abscesses contained mycelial filaments and numerous oval conidia suggestive of Scedosporium species but no yeasts. MIC studies demonstrated the resistance of the S. prolificans isolate to amphotericin B, fluctyosine, miconazole, ketoconazole, and itraconazole, whereas the isolate of C. albicans was susceptible to amphotericin B, flucytosine, miconazole, and ketoconazole. From the data from our case and six published reports of cases of disseminated S. prolificans infection, it can be concluded that this filamentous fungus is a new agent responsible for the most serious mycoses in both neutropenic patients and patients who have undergone organ transplantation.

Resolutive Candida utilis fungemia in a nonneutropenic patient

We report here the second case of Candida utilis infection in humans. The patient was apparently immunocompetent, had no central catheter, and survived an 8-day fungemia. Genomic analysis confirmed the conspecificity of medical and industrial strains of C. utilis and that of the anamorphic yeast C. utilis with the teleomorphic yeast Pichia jadinii.

Serotyping of Cryptococcus neoformans by using a monoclonal antibody specific for capsular polysaccharide

The importance of epidemiological studies of cryptococcosis has increased since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. Cryptococcus neoformans exists in two varieties defining four serotypes, Cryptococcus neoformans var. neoformans (serotypes A and D) and Cryptococcus neoformans var. gattii (serotypes B and C). The varieties are easy to distinguish by their differences of growth on diagnostic media. We propose here an easy serotyping method combining diagnostic media and a direct immunofluorescence assay with one monoclonal antibody (E1) specific for cryptococcal polysaccharide. The method was validated by the blinded testing of four to five reference strains of each serotype. Immunofluorescence patterns were characteristic of a given serotype provided that the variety of the strain had been defined before. For C. neoformans var. neoformans, a bright, homogeneous staining with several cell aggregates was characteristics of serotype A, whereas only a few serotype D cells were positive. For C. neoformans var. gattii, a completely negative isolate was serotype C, whereas the population of serotype B included a majority of negative cells but also included positive cells with a speckled pattern. The method was then used to serotype 156 clinical isolates from France and isolates from areas where C. neoformans var. gattii was endemic before the AIDS epidemic (13 strains from Rwanda and Zaire and 5 strains from Australia). The specificity of E1 was defined by its reactivity with various Cryptococcus spp. and analyzed according to the described cryptococcal antigenic factors. We conclude from this study that E1 provides a rapid and reliable means to serotype multiple isolates of C. neoformans.

Disseminated Scedosporium inflatum infection in a patient with acute myeloblastic leukemia

A case of disseminated Scedosporium inflatum infection occurring in a neutropenic patient with acute myeloblastic leukemia is reported. Scedosporium inflatum was isolated from skin lesions, blood, urine and vitreous cultures. Amphotericin B treatment was ineffective in avoiding hematogenous spread. At autopsy, hyphae and ovoid conidia with truncate bases consistent with the morphology of Scedosporium inflatum were found in the lungs, kidneys, myocardium, liver, thyroid, spleen, lymph nodes, brain and the left eye. This is the first report of disseminated Scedosporium inflatum infection and the first time this organism has been isolated from a patient in Europe.

Association of Malassezia pachydermatis with systemic infections of humans

Thirty-two Malassezia spp. isolates from human clinical specimens represented M. furfur and M. pachydermatis. Both species reportedly were obtained from patients with similar febrile systemic syndromes, including infections of the lungs or other tissues.

Antifungal activity of some Discomycetes. II. Fractionation and partial characterization of the antifungal substance produced by Ciboria rufo-fusca

An antifungal glycoprotein compound was obtained from the culture filtrate of Ciboria rufo-fusca, by ultrafiltration and fractionation through D.E.A.E. cellulose and ultrogel Ac A34 chromatography. The purified material was homogeneous on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and was sensitive to the action of beta glucuronidase and catalase, and partly denatured by urea. The antifungal properties of the discomycete: Ciboria rufo-fusca was described in the first part of this work (6). The second part deals with the nature of the antifungal substance produced by Ciboria rufo-fusca.

Antifungal activity of some Discomycetes. I. Biological spectrum of Ciboria rufo-fusca (Weberb.) Sacc

The antifungal activity was investigated in culture filtrates of 131 strains (41 genera and 104 species) of Ascomycetes--Discomycetes by testing against 6 fungal species which caused diseases in man. The anti-fungal spectrum was established for a Ciboria rufo-fusca strain, the only one found to inhibit all test organisms. This strain was also active against several gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria.