Occurrence of various pathogenic and opportunistic fungi in skin diseases of domestic animals: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Fungal infection of animals or humans are common all over the world. Some of microorganisms like fungi, exist on the skin and can be transmitted onto other individuals, other animal species or even humans and cause skin infections. Moreover, they can be the causative agents of severe generalized infections especially in immunocompromised individuals. The study aimed to evaluate the most frequent etiological agents of skin diseases and to compare the prevalence of animal fungal infections in Poland, and to discuss the possibility of transmission to humans in Poland. RESULTS: The obtained results are culture based. The fungi most frequently isolated from group of animals with skin lesions were Malassezia pachydermatis (29.14%), and Candida yeasts (27.07%), and dermatophytes (23.5%), including Microsporum canis as majority of them (59.25%), and Trichophyton genus (40.7%), most of them T. mentagrophytes, while Malassezia pachydermatis represented (80%) of isolates in animals with otitis externa. In over 19% of positive fungal cultures obtained from external ear canals Candida yeasts, mainly C. albicans, were identified. CONCLUSIONS: Dermatomycoses in companion animals are caused by both, mycelial fungi and yeasts. Most frequently isolated were Malassezia pachydermatis and Candida spp. Dermatophytes (Trichophyton, Microsporum), were also cultured, but the total number of these isolates seems to decrease. We have not found Cryptococcus neoformans in tested clinical samples.

Mixed Infection of Respiratory Tract in a Dog Caused by Rhodotorula mucilaginosa and Trichosporon jirovecii: A Case Report.

This report describes the isolation of two environmental fungi: Rhodotorula mucilaginosa and Trichosporon jirovecii accompanied by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli from a dog with bronchotracheitis. All microorganisms were isolated routinely from a mucopurulent discharge, obtained during bronchoscopy from laryngotracheal area. The initial identification of yeasts was confirmed by API Candida and by molecular analysis of internal transcribed spacer region. Administered antimicrobial treatment with Marbofloxacin and Canizol has brought the improvement in the dogs' health status. The final results of control mycological culture were negative. Most probably underlying hypothyroidism and the use of steroids were the factors predisposing this patient to opportunistic infection of mixed aetiology. As far as we are concerned, this is the first case of dogs' respiratory tract infection caused by R. mucilaginosa and T. jirovecii.

Phage Therapy in Bacterial Infections Treatment: One Hundred Years After the Discovery of Bacteriophages.

The therapeutic use of bacteriophages has seen a renewal of interest blossom in the last few years. This reversion is due to increased difficulties in the treatment of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. Bacterial resistance to antibiotics, a serious problem in contemporary medicine, does not implicate resistance to phage lysis mechanisms. Lytic bacteriophages are able to kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria at the end of the phage infection cycle. Thus, the development of phage therapy is potentially a way to improve the treatment of bacterial infections. However, there are antibacterial phage therapy difficulties specified by broadening the knowledge of the phage nature and influence on the host. It has been shown during experiments that both innate and adaptive immunity are involved in the clearance of phages from the body. Immunological reactions against phages are related to the route of administration and may vary depending on the type of bacterial viruses. For that reason, it is very important to test the immunological response of every single phage, particularly if intravenous therapy is being considered. The lack of these data in previous years was one of the reasons for phage therapy abandonment despite its century-long study. Promising results of recent research led us to look forward to a phage therapy that can be applied on a larger scale and subsequently put it into practice.

African Swine Fever Virus: a new old enemy of Europe

African swine fever (ASF) is a highly contagious viral disease of swine with a mortality rate approaching 100 percent. African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV) is a double-stranded DNA virus with a complex molecular structure. Its large genome, encoding multiple virulence factors, allows for efficient replication, which takes place predominantly in the cytoplasm of monocytes and macrophages. Also, ASFV has the ability to interfere with cell signalling pathways, which leads to various modulations in the synthesis profiles of interferon and other cytokines. Sustained viremia favours the persistence of virions in blood and tissues of the convalescents, and the extended circulation of ASFV within the herd. ASFV has been spreading in the Caucasus since 2007, and in 2014 reached the eastern territory of the European Union. Outbreaks pose an economical threat to native pig rearing, especially since a single point source may easily develop into an epizootic event. There is currently no effective vaccine nor treatment for ASF, and eradication is possible only by prevention or the slaughter of diseased animals. This review paper summarizes the current state of knowledge about ASFV.

Comparison of lipid profiles of Malassezia pachydermatis strains isolated from dogs with otitis externa and without clinical symptoms of disease.

Malassezia pachydermatis can cause infections of the skin and mucous membranes, especially in animals. It becomes a problem also in medicine. It is considered that metabolic disorders as well as hormonal and immunological status of the host promote diseases caused by M. pachydermatis. Here we consider whether specific features of fungi could also favour infections. We checked whether there are differences in lipid profiles between strains obtained from dogs with otitis externa and strains obtained from healthy dogs. Lipid profiles were determined using thin layer chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. All analyses were carried out on 32 strains derived from dogs with otitis externa and 31 strains isolated from dogs without symptoms of disease. The results show that strains isolated from dogs without symptoms of otitis externa are characterised by a higher content of fatty acids. They contain significantly more behenic and lignoceric acids on medium without addition of lipids, and more oleic acid and total monounsaturated fatty acids on medium with lipids supplementation. These strains have also a higher content of esters of ergosterol and triglycerides. Data obtained show differences which may be specific features of M. pachydermatis-specific strains related to the ability of infection, which could be not directly related of the host condition.

The application of MALDI-TOF MS for dermatophyte identification.

Dermatophytes are keratinolytic fungi responsible for a wide variety of diseases of the skin, nails and hair of mammals. Their identification is often complicated, labor-intensive and time consuming due to the high degree of intra-species morphological similarity, and also requires scientific knowledge and practice. The aim of this study was to demonstrate that MALDI-TOF MS technique may be a faster and more sophisticated method useful for the identification of dermatophytes and mycoses in general.

The use of a one-step PCR method for the identification of Microsporum canis and Trichophyton mentagrophytes infection of pets.

INTRODUCTION: Dermatophytes are a closely related group of keratinophilic fungi. They encompass important etiological agents of superficial fungal infections. These fungi are able to invade keratinized tissues of humans and animals, causing dermatophytosis (ringworm) of hair, nails or skin. THE AIM: Traditional diagnostics of ringworm is based on morphological identification of cultured fungi and is time-consuming. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, we applied a method patented by Brillowska-Dabrowska and coworkers (Brillowska-Dabrowska A, Saunte DM, Arenderup MC, 2007, Five-hour diagnosis of dermatophyte nail infections with specific detection of Trichophyton rubrum. J Clin Microbiol 45: 1200-1204) which involves extraction of fungal DNA and PCR amplification with pan-dermatophyte primers to confirm the presence of dermatophytes. RESULTS: The method used here is able to confirm the presence of dermatophyte DNA in pure cultures in less than 5 hours.