Immunohistochemical analysis of chronic and recurrent dermatophytosis.

BACKGROUND: Dermatophytosis has assumed epidemic proportions with rising resistance, recalcitrance and recurrence, especially in tropical regions. While various factors contribute to high prevalence worldwide, yet little is known about the interactions between host defence mechanisms and dermatophytes, particularly in chronic and recalcitrant dermatophytosis. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to compare the population of various immune cells in specimens of chronic recurrent dermatophytosis and those with acute superficial dermatophytosis. METHODS: We investigated the density of various immune cells-Langerhans cells (CD1a+), macrophages (CD68+), dermal dendrocytes (Factor XIIIa+) in the skin of chronic dermatophytosis patients and those with successfully resolved lesions (controls). RESULTS: Langerhans cells were significantly decreased in the epidermis of patients, both in affected and unaffected areas in comparison with controls. In the dermis, however, no differences in the density of immune cells (macrophages and fibroblasts) were observed. LIMITATIONS: The limited sample size and immune cells evaluated could be expanded further in future research. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that the decreased number of Langerhans cells could be a potential risk factor for the development of chronic and recurrent dermatophytosis.

Fungal Skin Disease Classification Using the Convolutional Neural Network.

Skin is the outer cover of our body, which protects vital organs from harm. This important body part is often affected by a series of infections caused by fungus, bacteria, viruses, allergies, and dust. Millions of people suffer from skin diseases. It is one of the common causes of infection in sub-Saharan Africa. Skin disease can also be the cause of stigma and discrimination. Early and accurate diagnosis of skin disease can be vital for effective treatment. Laser and photonics-based technologies are used for the diagnosis of skin disease. These technologies are expensive and not affordable, especially for resource-limited countries like Ethiopia. Hence, image-based methods can be effective in reducing cost and time. There are previous studies on image-based diagnosis for skin disease. However, there are few scientific studies on tinea pedis and tinea corporis. In this study, the convolution neural network (CNN) has been used to classify fungal skin disease. The classification was carried out on the four most common fungal skin diseases: tinea pedis, tinea capitis, tinea corporis, and tinea unguium. The dataset consisted of a total of 407 fungal skin lesions collected from Dr. Gerbi Medium Clinic, Jimma, Ethiopia. Normalization of image size, conversion of RGB to grayscale, and balancing the intensity of the image have been carried out. Images were normalized to three sizes: 120 × 120, 150 × 150, and 224 × 224. Then, augmentation was applied. The developed model classified the four common fungal skin diseases with 93.3% accuracy. Comparisons were made with similar CNN architectures: MobileNetV2 and ResNet 50, and the proposed model was superior to both. This study may be an important addition to the very limited work on the detection of fungal skin disease. It can be used to build an automated image-based screening system for dermatology at an initial stage.

Early Presentation of Pityriasis Rubra Pilaris Mimicking Tinea Corporis: Diagnostic Challenges of a Rare Skin Condition.

BACKGROUND Pityriasis rubra pilaris (PRP) is a rare chronic inflammatory skin condition characterized by follicular, papulosquamous, reddish-orange scaling, palmoplantar keratoderma, and erythema with islands of sparing. Its heterogeneous clinical presentation makes the diagnosis of PRP quite challenging, especially at the initial presentation, as it can mimic common skin conditions. CASE REPORT We present a case with an early presentation of PRP in a 61-year-old Malay woman with underlying uncontrolled diabetes, and discuss evolving clinical course of her disease. She presented to a primary care clinic with a 3-week history of itchy, ring-like skin lesions that started on her neck and chest but subsequently spread widely on her chest, back, and upper extremities. She was first treated as having extensive tinea corporis but responded poorly to multiple courses of antifungal treatment. An initial skin biopsy that was taken at the dermatology clinic revealed features suggestive of erythema annulare centrifugum. However, despite topical steroid treatment, her skin condition evolved further and she developed generalized erythroderma along with follicular hyperkeratosis and palmoplantar keratoderma. A repeat biopsy finally confirmed the diagnosis of PRP. CONCLUSIONS Making the diagnosis of PRP is challenging for clinicians. However, clinicians should approach any common skin problem that does not respond to treatment appropriately, with consideration of other uncommon skin disorders. A repeat skin biopsy may be considered if there are any doubts about the diagnosis. A clinical and histopathological correlation is important to aid in the diagnosis of PRP.

Alopecia and pet: a case report.

Dermatophytoses are fungal infections affecting the skin and cutaneous annexes. This clinical case report describes a 7-year-old girl with Kerion celsi, a severe manifestation of Tinea capitis. The patient presented with painful edematous crusty scalp lesions and alopecia, which required surgical debridement and long-term antifungal treatment. Culture of samples collected from scalp and arm skin lesions (patient and patient's mother respectively) were positive for Trichophyton mentagrophytes. The family owned a pet guinea pig. This particular dermatophytosis is easily transmitted from guinea pigs to humans, with some studies showing up to 34.9% prevalence of Trichophyton mentagrophytes infection in these animals.

Erythrodermic dermatophytosis: an alarming consequence of steroid abuse and misuse. A multicentre prospective study from India.

Erythroderma is usually attributed to some of the commoner causes such as eczematous disorders, psoriasis, malignancies, idiopathic situations and drug-induced scenarios. Rarely, erythroderma has been found to result from dermatophytic infections. Erythrodermic dermatophytosis may be a direct sequel of extensive tinea corporis (with or without a background of topical steroid misuse), paraneoplastic phenomenon, an id reaction or congenital erythrodermic disorders, with subsequent development of dermatophytosis. We present a series of patients who developed erythrodermic dermatophytosis on a background of misuse of steroids.

Tinea pseudoimbricata: observations from a clinicoepidemiological and mycological study from eastern India.

The characteristic ring with ring appearance in patients with dermatophytosis should raise the suspicion of application of topical corticosteroids (alone or in combination with topical antifungals). Such patients be counselled about the harmful effects applying such inappropriate combinaiton.

Scurvy and Tinea Corporis Simulating Leukocytoclastic Vasculitis.

ABSTRACT: Leukocytoclastic vasculitis (LCV) is a small vessel inflammatory condition considered to be caused by circulating immune complexes and often occurs after an acute infection or exposure to a new medication, although it may be associated with an underlying systemic disease or be idiopathic in nature. It is important to determine the etiology, identify the extent of the disease for early intervention and appropriate management, and treat and/or eliminate the underlying cause. Here, we report cases of scurvy and tinea corporis that presented with histopathologic features of LCV and had significant clinical improvement with treatment of the underlying etiologies. These cases emphasize that histopathologic features of early evolving LCV may be seen in other settings including scurvy and tinea corporis. Appropriate treatment of the underlying condition is important for optimized patient management.

A Case of Tinea Faciei, Tinea Corporis, and Tinea Unguium with Dermatophytoma Successfully Treated with Oral Fosravuconazole L-lysine Ethanolate.

We present a 76-year-old Japanese male with tinea faciei, tinea corporis, and tinea unguium with dermatophytoma. We performed fungal culture and confirmed the causative fungus to be Trichophyton rubrum. We treated the patient using oral fosravuconazole l-lysine ethanolate (F-RVCZ). More than one year has passed since the end of treatment, but there has been no recurrence. This case suggests that F-RVCZ is effective for tinea other than tinea unguium.

Plant-derived isoquinoline alkaloids that target ergosterol biosynthesis discovered by using a novel antifungal screening tool.

The ergosterol pathway is a prime antifungal target as it is required for fungal survival, yet is not involved in human homeostasis. Methods to study the ergosterol pathway, however, are often time-consuming. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assay is a simple research tool that determines the lowest concentration at which a novel antimicrobial is active in vitro with limited scope to determine the mechanism of action for a drug. In this study, we show that by adding hydrogen peroxide, an oxidative stressor, or glutathione (GSH), an antioxidant, to modify a commonly performed MIC assay allowed us to screen selectively for new antifungal drugs that target ergosterol biosynthesis in fungi. A human pathogen and dermatophyte, Microsporum gypseum, was used as a test organism. When exposed to ergosterol targeting drugs, the hydrogen peroxide treatment significantly decreased fungal survival by reducing ergosterol in the cell wall, whereas GSH increased survival of M. gypseum. Further, by performing a series of experiments with M. gypseum and Trichophyton rubrum, it was determined that the oxidative stress from hydrogen peroxide causes cell death at different developmental stages based on fungal species. These findings allow us to describe a simple, high-throughput method for simultaneously screening new antifungal drugs for activity and effects on the ergosterol pathway. By using this tool, two isoquinoline alkaloids were discovered to be potent inhibitors of ergosterol biosynthesis in vitro by reducing the amount of ergosterol without affecting the expression of 1,3-ß-glucan. Both compounds also significantly reduced the severity of acanthosis, hyperkeratosis, spongiosis and dermal edema in vivo.