[Urinary infection by Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Emerging yeast?]. / Infection urinaire à Saccharomyces cerevisiae : levure émergente ?

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a commensal yeast of the digestive, respiratory and genito-urinary tract. It is widely used as a probiotic for the treatment of post-antibiotic diarrhea. It most often occurs in immunocompromised patients frequently causing fungemia. We report the case of an adult diabetic patient who had a urinary tract infection due to S. cerevisiae. The disease started with urination associated with urinary frequency burns without fever. The diagnosis was established by the presence of yeasts on direct examination and positivity of culture on Sabouraud-chloramphenicol three times. The auxanogramme gallery (Auxacolor BioRad(®)) allowed the identification of S. cerevisiae. The patient was put on fluconazole with good outcome. This observation points out that this is an opportunistic yeast in immunocompromised patients.

[Intestinal cryptococcosis: an unusual presentation of disseminated cryptococcosis]. / Cryptococcose digestive: une présentation inhabituelle de cryptococcose disséminée.

Cryptococcosis is a serious infection caused by an encapsulated yeast-like fungus, Cryptococcus neoformans. It is pathogenic most often in the lungs and central nervous system of immunocompromised patients. In this work we report an unusual localization of cryptococcosis in an HIV-infected patient. This rare localization was diagnosed from a stool sample sent to our laboratory for parasitological study. Direct examination of fresh stool showed the presence of many large, rounded thick-walled fungi. India ink staining of the stool showed encapsulated cryptococci, and C. neoformans was isolated by culture. Despite flucanazole treatment, the patient died.

[The mould onychomycosis in Morocco: about 150 isolated cases in 20 years]. / Les onychomycoses à moisissure au Maroc: à propos de 150 cas isolés en 20 ans.

INTRODUCTION: the involvement of moulds in the fungal ungueal pathology is very variable. In fact a big confusion reigns because of numerous errors in the clinico-biological diagnosis, which could be responsible for therapeutic failure of onychomycosis. AIMS OF STUDY: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relative frequency of moulds involved in onychomycosis over a period of 20 years. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective study, conducted at the laboratory of parasitology-mycology of the Ibn Sina hospital over a period of 20 years. The patients were referred by dermatologists or general practitioners for suspected onychomycosis. The samples were studied according to good rules for performing mycological analysis. RESULTS: One hundred and fifty cases of onychomycosis were diagnosed with mould, with global prevalency of 2.78%. They mainly concern the toes (95%) with a slight female predominance (60%). The total dystrophy of the nail was the predominant clinical representation (88.3%). Moulds isolated were Aspergillus spp. in 53 cases (35.3%) and Fusarium spp. in 45 cases (30%), 19 cases (12.7%) of Scopulariopsis brevicaulis, 17 cases (11.3%) of Penicillium spp., 14 cases (9.3%) of Acremonium spp., one case of Onychocola canadensis (0.7%) and one case of Scytalidium dimitiatum (0.7%). CONCLUSION: A significant number of onychomycosis remains attributed to moulds, which highlights the contribution of the laboratory, which remains essential for the clinician to confirm the involvement of mould in onychomycosis, which allows taking into support early treatment avoiding the emergence of aesthetic complications.

Influence of essential oil of Hyssopus officinalis on the chemical composition of the walls of Aspergillus fumigatus (Fresenius).

The cell walls of the growing hyphae of Aspergillus fumigatus (Fresenius) cultured in the presence or absence of the essential oil of Hyssopus officinalis were isolated and their chemical composition analysed. The presence of the essential oil led to a reduction in levels of neutral sugars, uronic acid and proteins, whereas amino sugars, lipids and phosphorus levels were increased. HPLC analysis of the neutral sugars showed that they consisted mainly of glucose, mannose and galactose, while the amino sugars consisted of glucosamine and galactosamine. The presence of the essential oil in the culture medium induced marked changes in the content of galactose and galactosamine. Cell walls were fractionated by treatment with alkali and acid. The essential oil induced similar alterations in the various fractions with a more marked effect on the major constituents. The alterations were related to changes in the structure of the cells.

Effect of essential oil of Hyssopus officinalis on the lipid composition of Aspergillus fumigatus.

Addition of the essential oil of Hyssopus officinalis to the culture medium of Aspergillus fumigatus induced alterations in both growth and lipid composition of this mould. Total lipids and sterols were reduced, whereas total phospholipids were increased. There were alterations in the proportions of fatty acids, neutral lipid and phospholipid fractions.