Is Vitamin D3 a Worthy Supplement Protecting against Secondary Infections in Dogs with Atopic Dermatitis?

Canine atopic dermatitis (CAD) is a common, chronic, inflammatory skin disease in dogs worldwide. This disease often predisposes for secondary organisms overgrowth and skin infections with pathogens, such as Staphylococcus pseudintermedius and Malassezia pachydermatis. Unfortunately, the causes of this disease in both humans and animals are not fully understood; therefore, the only possible option is a lifelong, symptomatic treatment. The management of CAD is mainly based on limiting contact with allergens and antipruritic therapy, most often with glucocorticoids and antihistamines. A serious problem in this situation is the fact, that long-term administration of glucocorticoids leads to side effects like polyuria, alopecia, increased susceptibility to infection, muscle atrophy, and many others. For this reason, great emphasis is placed on the development of replacement and supportive therapies. It is a well-documented fact that reduced concentrations of serum vitamin D3 contribute to the severity of atopic dermatitis symptoms in humans. Moreover, unlike the most commonly used therapeutic methods, of which the main goal is to ameliorate inflammation and pruritus, namely the symptoms of AD, vitamin D3 supplementation affects some underlying factors of this disease. Therefore, in this review, we summarize the current state of knowledge regarding the role of vitamin D3 in CAD, its protective effect against secondary bacterial and fungal infections, and the potential of its supplementation in dogs.

Pigeons as Carriers of Clinically Relevant Multidrug-Resistant Pathogens-A Clinical Case Report and Literature Review.

Pigeons are widespread bird species in urban regions (Columba livia forma urbana) and may carry pathogens with zoonotic potential. In recent years, more and more data indicate that these zoonotic pathogens are multidrug resistant. Our results confirmed that global trend. Three different multidrug-resistant pathogens were isolated from an oral cavity of a racing pigeon with lesions typical for pigeon pox virus infection. Staphylococcus aureus was recognized as methicillin resistant, thus resistant to all beta-lactams. Additionally, it was also resistant to many other classes of antibiotics, namely: aminoglycosides, tetracyclines, phenicols, lincosamides, and macrolides. Escherichia coli showed resistance to all antimicrobials tested, and it was classified as intermediate to amikacin. Moreover, Candida albicans resistant to clotrimazole, natamycin, flucytosine, and amphotericin and intermediate to ketoconazole, nystatin, and econazole was also isolated. This raises the question how pigeons acquire such highly resistant strains. Therefore, more data are needed concerning the resistance to antibiotics in strains from domestic and wild pigeons in Poland. Until the problem is fully understood, it will be challenging to implement adequate planning of any control measures and check their effectiveness.

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.