In recent years, due to the extensive usage of immunosuppressant and the rise of patients with cancers and organ transplantation, the incidence rate of invasive fungal infection, especially invasive pulmonary fungal infection, has increased. Besides the clinical manifestations, medical history and imaging, the diagnosis of pulmonary mycosis mainly depends on pathogen detection methods in clinical microbiology laboratory. However, due to the difficulty in fungi culturing and the low sensitivity of smear microscopy, better molecular biology methods are needed. To date, the emergence of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) has improved the identification rate of pulmonary fungal infections. mNGS is significantly superior to traditional detection methods in rapid, accurate, and comprehensive determination of fungi from various clinical specimens, especially atypical fungi. However, some problems in mNGS method have to be addressed including sample collection, report interpretation, and its combination with traditional microbiology methods. With the in-depth discussion and solution of the above problems, mNGS will be indispensable to the etiological diagnosis of pulmonary invasive fungal infection.
Objective To research the anti-fungal spectrum and activity of the cream containing 1% naftifine-0.25% ketoconazole compared with other two creams that contain of 2% ketoconazole and of 1% terbinafine, respectively. Methods The agar diffusion method was used to judge drug sensitivity. Twenty-nine isolates of pathogenic fungi belonging to 11 species from clinic and three species of Malassezia standard stains were enrolled into the experiment. Organism suspension of each species was spread on the surface of the plate of the optimal media containing 2% agar. Then wells were made in the plate and three types of cream were put in each well respectively. After seven-day incubation, the diameter of the inhibition zone around the well full of each cream was observed and recorded. Results The inhibition zone around the well full of 1% naftifine-0.25% ketoconazole cream for all experiment isolates (Dermatophytes, Candida spp., Sporothrix schenkii, Fonsecaea pedrosoi, Fusarium graminearum, Malassezia furfur, M. globosa and M. sympodialis) was observed, with the mean diameter of 45.46mm. Similarly, the mean diameter of inhibition zone of 2% ketoconazole cream for all experiment isolates was 23.92mm. About 1% terbinafine cream, the mean diameter was 29.81mm but there was no inhibition zone observed around Candida krusei and Candida albicans mycelial-form. There were significant significances for mean diameters of the inhibition zone when comparing 1% naftifine-0.25% ketoconazole cream with 2% ketoconazole cream (P=0.000) and with 1% terbinafine cream (P=0.000). Conclusion The anti-fungal spectrum of 1% naftifine-0.25% ketoconazole cream is wider than that of 1% terbinafine cream. The antifungal activity of 1% naftifine-0.25% ketoconazole cream is ber than that of 2% ketoconazole cream and 1% terbinafine cream.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the diagnostic value of monitoring 1,3-beta-D-glucan (G test) in patients with autoimmune disease complicated with invasive fungal disease (IFD). MethodsA retrospective study was performed in hospitalized patients in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou Universisty who were diagnosed as autoimmune disease with lung infection during the immunosuppressive therapy between January 2014 and January 2016. A total of 372 patients were enrolled in this study. All subjects were classified according to the 2006 diagnostic criteria and treatment of invasive pulmonaary fungal infection, with serum 1,3-β-D-glucan results not included in the diagnosis. There were 18 cases with proven IFD, 35 cases with probable IFD, and 70 ceses with possible IFD. Fifty-three patients with proven IFD or probable IFD were as a case group, and another 249 patients with no evidence for IFD were as a control group. The value of the G test for diagnosis of automimmune disease with IFD was analyzed by ROC curve. ResultsThe serum 1,3-β-D-glucan level was significantly higher in the case group when compared with the control group [median (interquartile range): 135.0 (63.1 to 319.0) pg/ml vs. 75.9 (41.2 to 88.1) pg/ml, P<0.05]. When the cut-off value of serum 1,3-β-D-glucan level was set at 93.8 pg/ml, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value for diagnosis of autoimmune disease with IFD were 0.65 (95% CI 0.56 to 0.73), 0.87 (95% CI 0.83 to 0.92), 0.70 (95% CI 0.64 to 0.81), and 0.83 (95% CI 0.79 to 0.88), respectively. ConclusionThe 1,3-beta-D-glucan test is a valuable method for diagnosis of IFD in patients with autoimmune disease.