Candida spp. can be found in the human microbiome. However, immunocompromised patients are likely to develop invasive Candida infections, with mortality rates higher than 50%.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMucorales are a group of non-septated filamentous fungi widely distributed in nature, frequently associated with human infections, and are intrinsically resistant to many antifungal drugs. For these reasons, there is an urgent need to improve the clinical management of mucormycosis. Miltefosine, which is a phospholipid analogue of alkylphosphocholine, has been considered a promising repurposing drug to be used to treat fungal infections.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFspecies are one of the most concerning causative agents of fungal infections in humans. The treatment of invasive infections is based on the use of fluconazole, but the emergence of resistant isolates has been an increasing concern which has led to the study of alternative drugs with antifungal activity. Sphingolipids have been considered a promising target due to their roles in fungal growth and virulence.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFand are a group of filamentous fungi with some clinically relevant species causing either localized, invasive, or disseminated infections. Understanding how the host immune response is activated and how fungi interact with the host is crucial for a better management of the infection. In this context, an α-glucan has already been described in , which plays a role in the inflammatory response.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Fungi (Basel)
January 2023
Mucormycosis is considered concerning invasive fungal infections due to its high mortality rates, difficult diagnosis and limited treatment approaches. Mucorales species are highly resistant to many antifungal agents and the search for alternatives is an urgent need. In the present study, a library with 400 compounds called the Pandemic Response Box was used and four compounds were identified: alexidine and three non-commercial molecules.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFScedosporium and Lomentospora species are opportunistic filamentous fungi that cause localized and disseminated infections in immunocompetent and immunocompromised patients. These species are considered resistant fungi due to their low susceptibility to most current antifungal agents used in healthcare settings. The search for new compounds that could work as promising candidate antifungal drugs is an increasing field of interest.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe increase in the prevalence and severity of fungal infections and the resistance to available antifungals highlights the imperative need for novel therapeutics and the search for new targets. High-content screening of libraries containing hundreds of compounds is a powerful strategy for searching for new drug candidates. In this study, we screened the Pandemic Response Box library (Medicines for Malaria Venture) of 400 diverse molecules against the pathogenic species.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe poor outcome of treatments for fungal infections is a consequence of the increasing incidence of resistance to antifungal agents, mainly due to the overexpression of efflux pumps. To surpass this mechanism of resistance, a substance able to inhibit these pumps could be administered in association with antifungals. possesses an efflux pump (Pdr5p) homologue to those found in pathogenic yeast.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFungal infections have been increasing during the last decades. and species are filamentous fungi most associated to those infections, especially in immunocompromised patients. Considering the limited options of treatment and the emergence of resistant isolates, an increasing concern motivates the development of new therapeutic alternatives.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFand species are filamentous fungi responsible for a wide range of infections in humans and are frequently associated with cystic fibrosis and immunocompromising conditions. Because they are usually resistant to many antifungal drugs available in clinical settings, studies of alternative targets in fungal cells and therapeutic approaches are necessary. In the present work, we evaluated the antifungal activity of miltefosine against and species and how this phospholipid analogue affects the fungal cell.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFspecies are fungal pathogens known to cause a wide spectrum of diseases, and and are the most common associated with invasive infections. A concerning aspect of invasive candidiasis is the emergence of resistant isolates, especially those highly resistant to fluconazole, the first choice of treatment for these infections. Fungal sphingolipids have been considered a potential target for new therapeutic approaches and some inhibitors have already been tested against pathogenic fungi.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBraz J Microbiol
June 2021
Histoplasma capsulatum is the causative agent of histoplasmosis, a systemic disease responsible for most reported causes of morbidity and mortality among immunosuppressed individuals. Peptidogalactomannan (pGM) was purified from the yeast cell wall of H. capsulatum isolated from bats, and its structure and involvement in modulating the host immune response were evaluated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInfections caused by species present a wide range of clinical manifestations, from superficial to disseminated, especially in immunocompromised patients. Glucosylceramides (GlcCer) are glycosphingolipids found on the fungal cell surface and play an important role in growth and pathogenicity processes in different fungi. The present study aimed to evaluate the structure of GlcCer and its role during growth in two isolates.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Cell Infect Microbiol
June 2021
and species are filamentous fungi that cause a wide range of infections in humans. They are usually found in the lungs of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients and are the second most frequent fungal genus after species. Several studies have been recently performed in order to understand how fungi and bacteria interact in CF lungs, since both can be isolated simultaneously from patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFScedosporium species are filamentous fungi usually found in sewage and soil from human-impacted areas. They cause a wide range of diseases in humans, from superficial infections, such as mycetoma, to invasive and disseminated cases, especially associated in immunocompromised patients. Scedosporium species are also related to lung colonization in individuals presenting cystic fibrosis and are considered one of the most frequent fungal pathogens associated to this pathology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMed Mycol
May 2021
The genus Scedosporium is composed of clinically relevant fungal species, such as Scedosporium aurantiacum, Scedosporium apiospermum, and Scedosporium boydii. Surface molecules have been described that play crucial roles in fungi-macrophage interaction, and many of them are pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). The present study aims to characterize peptidoglycans obtained from Scedosporium aurantiacum and Scedosporium minutisporum, a clinical and an environmental isolate, respectively, and compare their roles in pathogen-host interaction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGlycosphingolipids are conserved lipids displaying a variety of functions in fungal cells, such as determination of cell polarity and virulence. They have been considered as potent targets for new antifungal drugs. The present work aimed to test two inhibitors, myriocin and DL-threo-1-Phenyl-2-palmitoylamino-3-morpholino-1-propanol, in , a pathogenic fungus which causes a wide range of disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFcomplex is composed of filamentous fungi, including some clinically relevant species, such as , and . Glucosylceramide (GlcCer), a conserved neutral glycosphingolipid, has been described as an important cell surface molecule playing a role in fungal morphological transition and pathogenesis. The present work aimed at the evaluation of GlcCer structures in and , a clinical and an environmental isolate, respectively, in order to determine their participation in fungal growth and host-pathogen interactions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSpecies of Scedosporium and Lomentospora are considered as emerging opportunists, affecting immunosuppressed and otherwise debilitated patients, although classically they are known from causing trauma-associated infections in healthy individuals. Clinical manifestations range from local infection to pulmonary colonization and severe invasive disease, in which mortality rates may be over 80%. These unacceptably high rates are due to the clinical status of patients, diagnostic difficulties, and to intrinsic antifungal resistance of these fungi.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFspecies are medically important fungi that are present in soil and human impacted areas and capable of causing a wide spectrum of diseases in humans. Although little is known about their pathogenesis, their growth process and infection routes are very similar to those of species, which grow as biofilms in invasive infections. All nine strains tested here displayed the ability to grow as biofilms and to produce a dense network of interconnected hyphae on both polystyrene and the surfaces of central venous catheters, but with different characteristics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInvasive fungal infections have significantly increased in the last few decades. Three classes of drugs are commonly used to treat these infections: polyenes, azoles and echinocandins. Unfortunately each of these drugs has drawbacks; polyenes are toxic, resistance against azoles is emerging and echinocandins have narrow spectrum of activity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGlucosylceramides (GlcCer) are the main neutral glycosphingolipids expressed in fungal cells. In this work, glucosylceramides (GlcCer) were extracted from three strains of Scedosporium (Pseudallescheria) boydii, one strain of Pseudallescheria ellipsoidea and one strain of Pseudallescheria angusta and purified by several chromatographic steps. Using high-performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC), we found a similarity between GlcCer obtained from all of the analysed strains.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFScedosporium apiospermum is an emerging fungal pathogen that causes both localized and disseminated infections in immunocompromised patients. Glucosylceramides (CMH, GlcCer) are the main neutral glycosphingolipids expressed in fungal cells. In this study, glucosylceramides (GlcCer) were extracted and purified in several chromatographic steps.
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