Tzanck cytology smear in diagnosis of cutaneous talaromycosis (penicilliosis)

Talaromyces marneffei infection is an AIDS-defining illness in South and Southeast Asia. Travel-related talaromycosis is being increasingly recognized in non-endemic areas too. It is a potentially fatal infection with rapid deterioration, if left untreated. Usage of Tzanck cytology smear for rapid diagnosis of T. marneffei is rarely described. In this case study, we report a man who presented with altered behaviour, headache, fever and cutaneous lesions. Tzanck smear test, skin biopsy and blood culture showed presence of T. marneffei. The cytomorphology findings of T. marneffei in Tzanck cytology smear were described. In conclusion, Tzanck smear is a simple and inexpensive test in establishing a rapid clinical diagnosis of talaromycosis before the culture is reported

Changing trends of the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-associated talaromycosis in Shanghai City / 中华传染病杂志

Objective:To analyze the clinical and epidemiological characteristics and changing trends of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-associated talaromycosis in Shanghai City.Methods:The clinical data of patients with AIDS-associated talaromycosis hospitalized at Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University from Janauary 1, 2014 to December 31, 2021 were collected. The medical information included age, gender, place of origin, clinical symptoms, imaging manifestations, blood routine test, CD4 + T lymphocyte count. The chi-square test or Fisher exact probability test was used for statistical analysis. Univariate logistic regression was used to analyze the related risk factors for death. Results:From 2014 to 2021, a total of 12 165 AIDS patients were admitted, including 169 (1.4%) AIDS-assiociated talaromycosis patients. The proportions of AIDS-associated talaromycosis in AIDS inpatients from 2014 to 2021 were 1.8%(21/1 149), 1.1%(14/1 307), 1.3%(19/1 446), 0.9%(15/1 610), 1.2%(20/1 626), 1.2%(22/1 778), 1.7%(28/1 624) and 1.8%(30/1 625), respectively, which had not changed much. There was no statistically significant difference in the proportion of AIDS-associated talaromycosis in AIDS inpatients in different years ( χ2=9.50, P=0.218). Among the 169 patients, 157 cases (92.9%) were male, with the age of (37.9±12.2) years, and 35 were from Jiangxi Province, 31 from Shanghai Municipality, 29 from Zhejiang Province, 17 from Anhui Province, 14 from Fujian Province, 11 from Jiangsu Province, eight from Hunan Province, four from Heilongjiang Province, three cases each from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Guizhou Province and Henan Province, two cases each from Hubei Province, Shandong Province, Shanxi Province, Yunnan Province and Guangdong Province, and one case from Chongqing Municipality. Patients from non-traditional endemic areas did not find a clear history of living in traditional endemic areas. Of 169 patients, 143(84.6%) cases had fever, 73(43.2%) had respiratory symptoms, and 26(15.4%) had rash during the course of the disease, 147(87.0%) had pulmonary imaging abnormalities, 94(55.6%) were complicated by other pathogens, and 44(26.0%) had hepatosplenomegaly, 137(81.1%) had CD4 + T lymphocyte count <50/μL. Twenty-three patients died, with the total fatality rate of 13.6%. The overall mortality rate showed a downward trend year by year. There was a statistically significant difference in the case fatality rate of AIDS-associated talaromycosis in different years (Fisher exact probability test, P=0.046). The result of univariate logistic regression model showed that patients with platelet count<50×10 9/L had an increased risk of death (odds ratio ( OR)=3.33, 95% confidence interval ( CI) 1.13 to 9.81, P=0.029). Conclusions:The overall change of AIDS-associated talaromycosis inpatients in Shanghai is not significant, while the prevalence rate has increased slightly in recent two years. The case fatality rate is declining year by year. The proportions of patients without a history of living in or traveling to epidemic areas and without rash as the first manifestation are high, and the main clinical manifestation is multi-system damage. Patients with platelet count<50×10 9/L have an increased risk of death.

Maxent modeling for predicting the global potential distribution of talaromycosis marneffei / 中国热带医学

@#Abstract: Objective　To predict the potential distribution of talaromycosis marneffei (TSM) and analyze its driving factors, so as to provide evidence for the surveillance and prevention of this disease. Methods　The data of all laboratory-confirmed, non-duplicating TSM published in the English and Chinese literature from the first case in January 1964 to December 2018 was collected. A Maxent ecology model using environmental variables, Rhizomys distribution and HIV/AIDS epidemic was developed to forecast ecological niche of TSM worldwide, as well as identify the driving factors. Results　A total of 705 articles (477 in Chinese and 228 in English) were obtained during the study period. After excluding imported cases, a total of 100 foci information were included in the model. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) of the model was 0.997 for the training set and 0.991 for the test set. Maxent model revealed that Rhizomys distribution, mean temperature of warmest quarter, precipitation of wettest month, HIV/AIDS epidemic and mean temperature of driest quarter were the top 5 important variables affecting TSM distribution. In addition to identifying traditional TSM endemic areas (South of the Yangtze River in China, Southeast Asian, North and Northeast India), other potential endemic areas were also identified, including parts of the North of the Yangtze River, Central America, West Coast of Africa, East Coast of South America, the Korean Peninsula and Japan. Conclusion　Our finding has discovered hidden high-risk areas and provided insights about driving factors of TSM distribution, which will help inform surveillance strategies and improve the effectiveness of public health interventions against TM infections.

Clinical features and chest CT manifestations of anti-interferon-γ autoantibodies positive talaromycosis marneffei / 中华放射学杂志

Objective:To explore the clinical and chest CT features of anti-interferon(IFN)-γ autoantibodies-positive talaromycosis marneffei (TSM) infection in human immune deficiency virus (HIV)-negative patients.Methods:Clinical data and chest CT findings including pulmonary manifestations, bronchial changes, pleural changes, and extrapulmonary manifestations in 54 HIV-negative patients with Talaromyces marneffei (TM) infection and positive anti-interferon-γ(IFN-γ) autoantibody in the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University from December 2012 to September 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. CT score was rated for the degree of lung involvement, and the difference of involvement at different regions of the lung were compared. Results:Of 54 patients, 46 cases had fever, 43 cases had cough and expectoration, 28 cases had cutaneous or subcutaneous lesion, and 19 cases had arthritis or arthralgia. Laboratory tests showed that the value of CD4/CD8 decreased in 29 cases and platelet count increased in 32 cases. Only one of 54 patients had no abnormal findings on chest CT. In the remaining patients, chest CT manifestations were diverse, mainly presenting as fibrous cord-like lesions (87.0%, 47/54), lymph node enlargement (75.9%, 41/54), sporadic nodules (74.1%, 40/54), patchy consolidation (72.2%, 39/54), pleural effusion (59.2%, 32/54), and consolidation lesions associated with air bronchogram (63.0%, 34/54). Most of the lesions showed bilateral distribution (77.8%, 46/54), and involved both peripheral and central regions in 38 cases (70.4%, 38/54). CT score showed that there was no significant difference in the degree of involvement at different regions of the lung.Conclusions:The clinical and imaging manifestations of anti-IFN-γ antibody-positive patients with TM infection are characteristic. Most TSM patients with positive anti-IFN-γ antibody have fever, cough and expectoration. The main features of chest CT are cord focus, nodules, consolidation and pleural effusion. Lymph node enlargement often coexists with the above signs, and most of the lesions are distributed bilaterally.

Clinical analysis of nine anti-interferon-γ autoantibody-positive patients with talaromycosis marneffei complicated by Sweet syndrome / 中华皮肤科杂志

Objective To report 9 HIV-negative patients with talaromycosis marueffei (TSM)complicated by Sweet syndrome,and to analyze the relationship of the anti-interferon-γ (anti-IFN-γ)autoantibody with TSM complicated by Sweet syndrome.Methods HIV-negative patients with TSM complicated by Sweet syndrome were collected from the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University between 2013 and 2018.Their clinical and laboratory data were analyzed retrospectively.Meanwhile,19 HIV-positive patients with TSM and 107 health checkup examinees served as controls.Anti-IFN-γ autoantibody was detected in peripheral blood samples of the patients and controls.Results A total of 9 HIV-negative patients with TSM (5 males and 4 females) were included in this study,and the age of onset ranged from 38 to 60 years.The 9 patients all presented with disseminated infections,manifesting as long-term irregular fever,multiple lymph node enlargement,cough,emaciation and anemia.All of the 9 patients met the diagnostic criteria for classical Sweet syndrome,and microbiological examination of Sweet syndrome lesions was negative.Besides Talaromyces marneffei,6 patients also were infected with nontuberculous mycobacteria,4 with varicella-zoster virus,and 2 with Salmonella.All the 9 HIV-negative patients with TSM were positive for anti-IFN-γ autoantibody,while the 107 healthy controls and 19 HIV-positive patients with TSM were negative for anti-IFN-γ autoantibody.Conclusion Anti-IFN-γ autoantibody may be associated with HIV-negative TSM complicated by Sweet syndrome.

Cutaneous Manifestations in Patients Infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus: An Audit in the Department of Dermatology Hospital Kuala Lumpur

@#Patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) may have significant cutaneous morbidities which can potentially affect their quality of life or be life-threatening. This study aimed to describe the demographic data and the pattern of cutaneous manifestations of patients infected with HIV.

AcuD Gene Knockout Attenuates the Virulence of Talaromyces marneffei in a Zebrafish Model

Talaromyces marneffei is the only dimorphic species in its genus and causes a fatal systemic mycosis named talaromycosis. Our previous study indicated that knockdown of AcuD gene (encodes isocitrate lyase of glyoxylate bypass) of T. marneffei by RNA interference approach attenuated the virulence of T. marneffei, while the virulence of the AcuD knockout strains was not studied. In this study, T. marneffei-zebrafish infection model was successfully established through hindbrain microinjection with different amounts of T. marneffei yeast cells. After co-incubated at 28°C, the increasing T. marneffei inoculum doses result in greater larval mortality; and hyphae generation might be one virulence factor involved in T. marneffei-zebrafish infection. Moreover, the results demonstrated that the virulence of the ΔAcuD was significantly attenuated in this Zebrafish infection model.