Subcutaneous Mycoses Flashcards
What are subcutaneous mycoses? What are the 3 most common genera causing this?
dimorphic fungi and fungus-like microorganisms affecting the skin and subcutaneous tissue
- Sporothrix schenkii - sporotrichosis most commonly in humans, horses, dogs, and cats
- Histoplasma capsulatum var. farciminosum - epizootic lymphangitis in equids
- Oomycosis (Aphanomyces, Lagenidium, Pythium, Saprolegnia) - chromoblastomycosis, phaehyphomycosis, and mycetoma in fish and mammals
What is Sporothrix schenkii? How does it present in immune-competent people and horses/dogs?
saprophytic, dimorphic fungi
- PEOPLE: chronic ulcerative lymphangitis of skin and subcutaneous tissue
- HORSES/DOGS: limited to cutaneous/cutaneolymphatic forms with sparse presence in lesions
How are cats affected by Sporothrix schenkii?
develop cutaneoulymphatic or disseminated disease regardless of immune status at the time of infection
What are the 2 possible structural forms of Sporothrix schenkii?
- MOLD - room temperature (25 degrees C on Sabourand’s agar)
- BUDDING, PLEOMORPHIC YEAST - at 35-37 degrees C in tissue or rich media, like blood agar; “cigar bodies”
Which form of Sporothrix schenkii is easily stained? What 3 stains work best?
yeast phase
- Gram stain
- phase accepts Romanowsky-type stain (Wright-Giemsa)
- phase accepts fungal stains (periodic acid Schiff, Grocott methenamine silver, Gridley)
What are the 5 major cell wall components of Sporothrix schenkii?
- adhesins - affinity for extracellular matrix proteins
- lipid - inhibits phagocytosis by monocytes and macrophages
- melanin - protects from ROS within phagolysosomes
- peptide-rhamnomannan - immunosuppressive by suppressing the liberation of proinflammatory cytokines
- sialic acid - inhibits uptake by phagocytic cells and directs complement proteins toward the degrative pathway
What secreted enzymes are thought to contribute to Sporothrix schenkii virulence?
proteinases - may hydrolyze stratum corneum
Where is Sporothrix schenkii commonly found? In which animals is disease most common? What is disease most commonly associated with in humans?
soil rich in decaying organic matter, live plants
cats, dogs, horses
rose gardening - rose gardener’s disease
What are the 5 steps to Sporothrix schenkii transmission/pathogenesis?
- infection
- contaminated cutaneous infection
- underlying tissue - suppurative inflammation, ulceration, necrosis of skin, granuloma
- invades tissue and lymphatics
- regional LN - lymphadenitis, granuloma
What does the inflammatory reaction to Sporothric schenkii result in? What is the most common inflammatory reaction?
draining wounds (abscesses) that can become ulcerated cutaneous nodules
pyogranulomatous with purulent center surrounded by epithelioid and multinucleated macrophages, lymphocytes, and plasma cells
What happens in immunocompetent patients in response to Sporothrix schenkii infection?
usually limited to cutaneous or cutaneoulymphatic forms
- EXCEPT CATS
What is significantly related to Sporothrix schenkii resistance? How is this organism identified?
cell-mediated immunity
- oval to cigar-shaped yeast forms in exudates/biopdies
- immunofluorescence
- latex agglutination
- agar gel diffusion
- PCR (chitin synthase 1)
What 5 treatments is Sporothrix sckenkii susceptible to?
- sodium/potassium iodides
- itraconazole
- ketoconazole
- amphotericin B
- flucystosine
Sporothrix schenkii:
- yeast cells = cigar-shaped
- lymphatic involvement
Sporothrix schenkii, feline:
Sporothrix schenkii, canine:
What 2 forms can Histoplasma capsulatum take?
- MOLD: 25-30 degrees C, saprophytic
- YEAST: 37 degrees C, parasitic
What are the 3 varieties of Histoplasma capsulatum?
- var. capsulatum - histoplasmosis
- var. duboisii - histoplasmosis
- var. farciminosum - epizootic lymphangitis (pseudoglangers), a chronic pyogranulomatous disease involving the skin and lymphatics in horses, donkeys, and mules, but also reported in camels, cattle, and dogs
How does Histoplasma capsulatum var. farciminosum grow in tissue? Culture?
TISSUE = budding yeasts
CULTURE = sterile hyphae in its myecelial form when grown at 25 degrees C or room temperature on SDA
How is the yeast phase of Histoplasma capsulatum var. farciminosum best demonstrated?
- Romanowski-type stains - Wright or Giemsa
- fungal stain - periodic Schiff, Grocott methenamine silver, Gridley
How can mold growth of Histoplasma capsulatum var. farciminosum be converted into yeast?
grow in blood-containing agar with incubation at 37 degrees C under 15-20% CO2