Abstract: In catteries with a long-standing problem of dermatophytosis, Microsporum canis was the sole fungal isolate from all cats, regardless of clinical signs. Fungal isolates from cats in catteries with ...

Abstract: ‘Sabouraud glucose agar’ is the name recommended for present-day versions of the medium originally designed by Raymond Sabouraud. The title ‘Sabouraud glucose agar’ implies a medium comprising 1% (w:v) peptone, 4% (w:v) glucose and 1·5–2·0% (w:v) agar with a final pH of 5.6 and should not be applied to any other formulation, in the interests of inter-laboratory reproducibility. Use of the word ‘dextrose’ as a synonym for ‘glucose’ is not recommended. The colony forms, microscopic characteristics and other physiological properties of fungi cultivated on Sabouraud glucose agar may vary considerably according to the type of peptone used in the medium. The type of agar chosen and the conditions of autoclave sterilization are further obstacles to true standardization of this widely used mycological culture medium.

Abstract: Nasal and retrobulbar infection caused by the Oomycete Pythium insidiosum is described in a cat. The diagnosis was established on three criteria. The staining of broad, sparsely septate hyphal elements in biopsy tissue using a fluorescein-labelled antiglobulin specific for P. insidiosum, detection of antibodies to P. insidiosum by an immunodiffusion test, and isolation of the aetiological agent in pure culture from the biopsy tissue. Treatment with ketoconazole for 6 weeks resulted in clinical improvement, but proptosis of the left eye slowly appeared after the discontinuation of treatment. This case represents a new host for P. insidiosum, namely, a domestic, shorthaired cat, from North Carolina, U.S.A.

Abstract: Melanin formation at 37 degrees C has been proposed as a virulence factor in Cryptococcus neoformans. However, whereas catecholamine uptake is maintained at this temperature, phenoloxidase, which catalyses the oxidation of catecholamine to melanin, is severely decreased in most wild type strains cultivated at 37 degrees C.

Abstract: Cryptococcus neoformans var. neoformans was isolated from domestic dust in 54% of houses occupied or recently occupied by AIDS+ cryptococcosis patients and in 20% of control houses randomly chosen in Bujumbura, Burundi. It was not isolated from wards of similar patients in the University Hospital. This seems to prove that patients could not contaminate their own environment and that the presence of C. neoformans var. neoformans had another origin.In 40% of the cases, patients admitted contact with pigeons in the city and pigeon coops are frequently positive.We are convinced that the pigeon coops of the city play a part in the contamination of HIV+/AIDS patients; however, some patients denied any contact with pigeons and in these cases, the only possible source of contamination identified thus far is domestic dust, although the origin of the yeast remains unknown.

Abstract: A 60-year-old man with a 9-year history of malignant lymphoma developed an initial pulmonary infection with Nocardia asteroides which later disseminated to the central nervous system with multiple brain abscesses. He was treated successfully with intravenous trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole for 6 weeks. A follow-up computed tomography (CT) scan showed complete resolution of the abscesses. Two years later, he returned to the hospital with a 2-week history of confusion, loss of concentration, ataxia, and leaning to the left. A CT scan revealed an enhancing multiloculated complex right frontal lesion. Craniotomy revealed a large right frontal lobe abscess, which was totally resected. Histopathologic examination of the resected tissue revealed multiple, lightly pigmented, septate, branched hyphal elements typical of phaeohyphomycosis. The fungal isolate cultured from the tissue was a dematiaceous, thermotolerant fungus that was identified as Ochroconis gallopavum. Despite treatment with amphotericin B, flucytosi...

Abstract: Pathogenic micro-organisms such as Candida albicans may be susceptible to the activity of antimicrobial products like yeast killer toxins due to the presence of specific cell wall receptors for these agents. Anti-idiotypic antibodies (anti-Ids) were produced that competed for these receptors with the yeast killer toxin of a strain of Pichia anomala. We report here that affinity chromatography purified anti-Ids may kill C. albicans cells in vitro which are susceptible to the activity of the yeast killer toxin, as well as P. anomala killer cells which are obviously immune to their own toxin despite possessing specific cell wall receptors which can be detected by indirect immunofluorescence with anti-Ids. We propose that these conceptually new antimicrobial immunoglobulins acting as antibiotics be called ‘antibiobodies’.

Abstract: Candida albicans secreted three types of phospholipase (lysophospholipase, lysophospholipase-transacylase and phospholipase B) at different rates in culture. Clinical isolates of C. albicans showed variable activities of these phospholipases. Two forms of lysophospholipase-transacylase (LPTA) were purified to homogeneity from the culture filtrate of C. albicans 3125. The two purified enzymes, designated LPTA-I and LPTA-II, showed some differences in molecular mass (81 kDa for LPTA-I and 41 kDa for LPTA-II), amino acid composition and enzymatic properties. Antibody raised against purified C. albicans LPTA-II reacted strongly with LPTA-II, but not with LPTA-I. Furthermore, the biochemical properties of C. albicans lysophospholipase-transacylase were distinct from those of the corresponding mammalian enzyme.

Abstract: The 43 kDa glycoprotein (gp43) antigen has been purified by affinity chromatography and Sephacryl S-200 gel filtration from concentrated and dialysed culture supernatant fluids of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis grown in a tomato juice-enriched complex medium (TOM). In the TOM medium, there was rapid and extensive growth of the fungus, with an abundant production of gp43 in relation to other exocellularly accumulated components. The purified gp43 can be used for immunochemical and structure determination studies.

Abstract: SAO PAULO STATE UNIV,SCH MED,DEPT INFECT & PARASITOL DIS DERMATOL & RADIOL,BOTUCATU,SP,BRAZIL

Abstract: Fourteen sputum isolates of Aspergillus fumigatus from Glasgow, Scotland, including 12 isolates from patients with aspergilloma were DNA typed and compared to 31 previously typed isolates. Five isolates obtained over a period of 12 months from one aspergilloma patient were of four DNA types. Two isolates from another patient with aspergilloma were identical. One isolate each from five other aspergilloma patients showed five DNA types. Two DNA types, each shared by two aspergilloma isolates, were each identical to the DNA types from invasive aspergillosis isolates, one from Germany and one from the USA.

Abstract: Classical yeast identification procedures and DNA relatedness studies confirmed the occurrence of Candida haemulonii among clinical specimens in the USA, particularly isolations from the foot None of the six clinical isolates studied produced identical API 20C profile codes

Abstract: Electron microscopic observations, as well as in vitro experiments, on experimental Fusarium solani keratitis of rabbits were performed to study the mode of fungal invasion into the corneal stroma, the interactions between F. solani and inflammatory cells under the influence of topical dexamethasone (DXM) treatment, and the survival mechanism of the fungi in the DXM-treated cornea. Electron microscopy showed that, while the fungus invaded into the corneal stroma, digestion of collagen fibrils occurred around the hyphae, where amorphous material was often noted. In DXM-nontreated cornea, the fungal hyphae were entrapped by pseudopodia of the neutrophils and destruction of the hyphae was noted on day 3 of infection, most hyphae having disappeared by day 7. In the DXM-treated cornea, however, neutrophils could not ingest and destroy the hyphae. In qualitative nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT)-reduction tests using rabbit peripheral blood neutrophils, DXM significantly suppressed the rate of NBT-reduction and the r...

Abstract: The prevalence and the principal epidemiological characteristics of pityriasis versicolor have been studied in a randomized population of 870 adult individuals (418 males and 452 females) in the Central African Republic. The general clinical prevalence was 16·6%. Males were affected more often than females (20·6% vs. 12·9%). For both sexes, the maximum prevalence was in the 15 to 25-year-old age groups (23·5%). Lesions commonly occurred over the face (49·3%) and upper trunk (48·6%). Different climatic areas within the country, type of urbanization, religion and general hygiene showed no relevance to the disease. The prevalence was higher among people living in rammed-earth houses than in people living in hard-built houses. The sebaceous activity of the skin, a feature which is racially and genetically determined, probably constitutes a primary factor for developing this mycosis, associated with the tropical climate as an additional environmental factor.

Abstract: Yeast or mycelial cultures of Candida albicans released comparable amounts of Concanavalin A-reactive mannoprotein material after 24-h of growth, and in both cases this material showed a qualitatively similar SDS-PAGE pattern, with predominantly polydisperse constituents of high molecular mass. The two secretion mixtures also showed similar reactivity by ELISA with serum from a subject with high titre anti-Candida antibodies, as well as with an anti-Candida hyperimmune antiserum raised in rabbits. Both secreted extracts were separated by ion-exchange chromatography into two major fractions (designated F1 and F2), each containing mannoprotein antigens recognized by rabbit and human sera, although the immunoreactivity of the two fractions from the two growth forms was not uniform. The mannoproteins released from mycelial cultures, in particular those present in the F1 fraction, were poorly reactive or not reactive at all in ELISA with a monoclonal antibody (mAbAF1) which strongly recognized the material released from yeast cultures. Immunoblots of the more acidic, more antigenic F2 fractions with mAbAF1 and polyclonal anti-Candida antisera demonstrated that the monoclonal antibody did not recognize several mannoprotein molecules which were recognized by the polyclonal antibodies, in particular a 45-47 kDa component present only in the secreted extract from mycelium. A quantitative ELISA-inhibition method showed that the rate of release of mannoprotein antigen during growth in the yeast form was either constant (as assayed with polyclonal antibodies) or fluctuated without any definite trend (as seen with mAbAF1). On the other hand, cultures of mycelial cells exhibited an early (90 min) peak of antigen release, followed by either a decrease to a rate corresponding to that of yeast cells (with polyclonal antibodies) or a total lack of secretion (with mAbAF1). This modulation in the secretion of mAbAF1 reactive molecules was temporarily associated with germ tube emergence-elongation, and was not observed in an agerminative mutant of C. albicans grown under germination permissive conditions. These results highlight the dynamic aspects of the secretion of specific mannoprotein epitopes released from C. albicans during hyphal growth, and the direct relationship between this release and the dynamic expression of the same epitopes on the cell surface demonstrated previously.

Abstract: The in vitro production of tumour necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin-1 (IL-1) by peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 27 healthy women in response to viable and heat-killed Candida albicans was measured. Production of both cytokines was proportional to the concentration of viable C. albicans and increased at a steady rate for at least 24 h. No relationship was observed between the levels of IL-1 and TNF produced by the mononuclear cells from any individual. Some women were high TNF producers and low IL-1 producers or vice versa. Higher levels of TNF were induced by heat-killed C. albicans than by viable organisms in 26 of the 27 subjects. In marked contrast, IL-1 was induced preferentially by viable C. albicans in 23 of the 27 women. Thus, TNF and IL-1 production induced by C. albicans appears to be non-coordinately regulated and may involve different Candida moieties.

Abstract: Yeast cellular extracts of three isolates of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis were tested by the Western-blot technique against 53 sera from patients with paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM). Numerous antigens were recognized by the sera but only five were specific for (58, 57, 48, 44 and 23 kDa). These specific antigens had the same relative molecular mass in the different isolates but their reactivity with sera from PCM patients was variable. An antigen in isolate 688, which was specific for PCM, had an apparent molecular mass of 48 kDa. Although a 48 kDa antigen was also present in isolates B339 and 1789.88 it was not specific for PCM, demonstrating antigenic variability among isolates. The 44 kDa antigen in isolate B339 and the 44 and 48 kDa antigens in isolate 688 reacted with a rabbit antiserum raised against a 43 kDa glycoprotein, a specific antigen used in the diagnosis of PCM. There was no correlation between the specific antigen(s) detected and the clinical form of the disease.

Abstract: Murine polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) were examined for fungicidal and fungistatic activity against yeast cells of Histoplasma capsulatum. In a 16-h limiting dilution assay (LDA) (constant number of PMN versus decreasing numbers of yeast cells) where PMN to yeast cell ratios were high (0.4-1.5 x 10(5):1), murine PMN exhibited a limited fungicidal effect on H. capsulatum as measured by sterilization of cultures containing one to four yeast cells. On the other hand, inoculum colony forming units (c.f.u.) of H. capsulatum were not reduced by PMN in short-term (2 h) assays (PMN to yeast cell ratio, 500:1) even though H. capsulatum stimulated a brisk oxidative burst in PMN. In the same assays 84% of Candida albicans cells were killed. These findings indicate that H. capsulatum was resistant to killing by products of the oxidative burst generated by PMN and that it was slightly sensitive to PMN in 16-h LDA assays where a different microbicidal mechanism may be operative. In long-term co-culture assays, where the PMN to yeast cell ratio was 500:1, PMN consistently inhibited the replication of H. capsulatum after 24, 48, or 72 h of incubation. Inoculum c.f.u. failed to increase significantly in co-cultures, whereas in culture medium alone c.f.u. increased several-fold in 72 h. Based on these novel findings, we speculate that PMN might play a role in resistance to H. capsulatum due to their strong fungistatic activity and to a lesser extent their limited fungicidal action.

Abstract: Although the natural habitat of Trichosporon species is considered to be the soil, the role of normal skin in the carriage of Trichosporon beigelii is unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of T. beigelii colonization on normal perigenital skin. Inguinal skin scrapings were obtained from 322 asymptomatic volunteers. There were 261 males and 61 females ranging in age from 18 to 89; 136 were white, 134 were black, and 52 were Hispanic. Specimens were cultured on Sabouraud's glucose agar containing 500 micrograms ml-1 chloramphenicol, and incubated at 23-26 degrees C for up to 4 weeks. The overall incidence of T. beigelii colonization was 12.4%. However, this varied with patient's age, sex, race and socioeconomic background. The highest prevalence (27.1%) was found in black males who attended a Veterans Affairs hospital. The prevalence was lowest in females (1.6%), and no patients who attended a private clinic were colonized. It was concluded that T. beigelii colonizes normal skin with some regularity.

Abstract: Lasiodiplodia theobromae, a recognized plant pathogen, was isolated in culture from a case of human mycotic keratitis. Chemotherapy with a variety of azoles was unsuccessful and the lesion was removed surgically. Electron microscopy of thin sections of the excised corneal tissue revealed several examples of intrahyphal hyphae, a unique process described previously in in vitro cultures of various zoopathogenic fungi. We believe this to be the first report of the presence of intrahyphal hyphae in parasitized animal or human tissue. The demonstration of this process in vivo is thought to be consistent with the hypothesis that intrahyphal hyphae might represent an attempt by the invading fungus to survive in an otherwise unfavourable environment.

Abstract: A total of 1583 yeast isolates, mostly Candida albicans, has been maintained under sterile distilled water for periods ranging from 1 to 18 years. Overall, 71 (4·5%) of the isolates were not recove...

Abstract: A case of neoplastic transformation of lesions of chromoblastomycosis is reported in a 67-year-old farmer from French Guyana. An interesting aspect of this case was the appearance of new cutaneous lesions of chromoblastomycosis, in a different site from the original lesion, and the presence of an infected synovial cyst. The potential therapeutic role of itraconazole is discussed.

Abstract: The reactivity of affinity-purified antibody to two components of germ tube cell wall extracts of Candida albicans showed that the components shared a common determinant(s). Surface expression of at least one of these determinants was demonstrated by indirect immunofluorescence where antibody binding was observed only on the hyphal extension of the organism.

Abstract: Specific immunoglobulin from the sera of patients with antibodies to Aspergillus and from antisera raised in rabbits to Aspergillus fumigatus fractions bound almost exclusively to the mycelial wall, as shown by immunogold labelling of ultra-thin sections. Different layers of the wall were labelled, depending on the source of the antigen used to produce antibody. Internal, cytoplasmic components were generally not labelled, except with antisera raised to crude wall material and to a Concanavalin A (ConA)-binding fraction of a water-soluble preparation.

Abstract: In addition to its requirement for histidine, Trichophyton megninii can be readily differentiated from certain other dermatophytes, particularly Trichophyton rubrum, by its "+" mating type and a positive urease test on urea-indole broth.

Abstract: It has been suggested recently that the two most widely used reference strains of Candida albicans (NCPF 3153 and B311) were derived from the same parental strain. However, records maintained at the PHLS Mycological Reference Laboratory suggest otherwise. In an attempt to resolve this contradiction, assessments were made of biotypes, resistogram patterns, morphotypes and restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP) for nine isolates of NCPF 3153 and six of B311, obtained from 11 different centres. Biotyping results showed that with one exception (isolate No. 3, putatively derived from NCPF 3153), only strains derived from B311 were resistant to flucytosine at 12.5 micrograms ml-1 in agar. Moreover, strain No. 3 differed from other NCPF 3153 derivatives in its resistogram and RFLP patterns, which were indistinguishable from B311 isolates. It was concluded that the two reference strains were not derived from the same parental strain, and that they could be distinguished from each other by biotype, resistogram and RFLP patterns. Strains designated as B311 resembled each other closely, in contrast to NCPF 3153 isolates, which had variable resistogram and RFLP patterns. The simplest screening procedure for distinguishing B311 isolates was their resistance to flucytosine. Since test isolate No. 3 differed consistently from other putative NCPF 3153 isolates, it was concluded that its status was uncertain and that its designation as = NCPF 3153 should be discontinued.

Abstract: Two methods have been used to estimate chitin. In both, the chitin was first converted into chitosan. The insoluble chitosan was then either depolymerized and deaminated with HNO2 and the product colorimetrically determined with 3-methylbenzo-2-thiazolone hydrazone and Fe3+ (method A), or hydrolysed in HCl and the glucosamine determined with p-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde (method B). Method B showed a better correlation between chitin concentration and absorbance, and its reliability was higher. This method was equally convenient to estimate the chitin content of germ tubes of Candida albicans grown in vitro, showing good correlation between mycelial growth and chitin content. Finally, method B was used to measure the growth of C. albicans in organs of animals infected experimentally.

Abstract: The ultrastructure of Malassezia pachydermatis and its budding process was investigated by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The innermost layer of the cell wall showed the serrated structure characteristic of the genus Malassezia. In the daughter cell, this structure became more defined as the cell grew. The mode of conidium ontogeny was monopolar blastic development with a collarette. The appearance was similar to that reported previously for Malassezia furfur, with the following difference: the budding base was 0.9-1.1 microns in diameter which was broader than that of M. furfur (0.5-0.7 microns).