fardin ahmadkhani

 Treatment of ocular infection by fungi has become a problematic issue, particularly in deep lesion cases, because of the limited available antifungals and emerging resistance species.

 The present study was designed for molecular identification and studying the antifungal susceptibility pattern of ocular fungi.

 Fifty-three ocular fungal isolates, including Fusarium spp., Aspergillus spp., yeast spp., and dematiaceous fungi were collected. Initial identification of each sample was performed using routine mycological techniques. ITS1-5.8SrDNA-ITS2 and translation elongation factor (TEF)-1α regions were used for the identification and differentiation of ocular non-Fusarium and Fusarium fungal species, respectively. The antifungal susceptibility of itraconazole, voriconazole, and posaconazole was determined according to the CLSI guidelines (CLSI M38 and M60, 3rd ed.) for filamentous and yeast species, respectively.

 Voriconazole and posaconazole showed excellent activity in all tested isolates; however, some of Fusarium, Aspergillus, and Curvularia strains showed minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ≥ 2 μg/mL. The itraconazole showed different results in all species, and high MICs (≥ 16 μg/mL) were found.

 Finally, in the present study, we tried to identify species involved in fungal ocular infection using the molecular methods, which highlighted the importance of precise identification of species to choose an appropriate antifungal regime. On the other hand, our findings showed that antifungal susceptibility test is effective to reliably predict the in vivo response to therapy in infections; however, in fungal ocular infection cases, the penetration of antifungals may contribute to predict the outcome.

Leprosy is an infectious disease which primarily affect skin and peripheral nerves. Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis that are the acid-fast bacillus are known to be cause of leprosy. Genetic factors and immunological function have some roles in susceptibility of developing leprosy. There are some cases of familial leprosy.

 Here in, we report a case of familial leprosy which in one member it was symptomatic and others were asymptomatic with positive skin smear for mycobacterium leprosy bacilli.

We recommend in addition to approach and manage lepromatous patients, their families be also evaluated.

Recently, there is an increasing trend in the diversity of pathogenic yeasts isolated from clinical samples. However, Candida albicans is even now the major cause of yeast infections. Candida albicans is one of the members of the mucosal microbiota which can cause cutaneous, mucosal, and disseminated invasive infections in susceptible individuals. For persistence in the host, the yeast must have the ability to adhere to both biotic and abiotic surfaces following host tissue invasion, and obtain iron. One of the important properties of this pathogenic yeast is dimorphism which is its ability to switch from a unicellular to a hyphal mode of growth. Dimorphism is triggered in response to certain environmental conditions, such as pH alternation, temperature, or serum availability. These changes which allow the yeast to invade are associated with the expression of several genes involving in its pathogenesis, including SAP genes family encoding the secreted aspartic proteinases (Saps), the agglutinin-like sequence (ALS) family encoding the adhessive proteins, and phenotypic and morphologic switching systems. This review aimed at summarizing recent data on the regulation and relevant signal transduction of some important essential genes associated with virulence factors in Candid albicans. Surely, understanding the genetic of the virulence factors would be of great benefit in effective combating the yeast and also in designing new antifungal agents.