Trichophyton mentagrophytes – a new genotype of zoophilic dermatophyte causes sexually transmitted infections

Abstract

Summary Background A new genotype of the zoophilic fungal species Trichophyton (T.) mentagrophytes was recently described in two studies. It was isolated from three patients who had visited Southeast Asia and one patient who had visited Egypt. In contrast to these studies, we have observed a number of cases with the dimensions of an epidemic outbreak. Patients and methods At the University Hospital Charité Berlin, 43 patients, mostly suffering from highly inflammatory, painful and persistent infections of the pubogenital region were observed between January 2016 and July 2017. Mycological examination was performed with fungal culture and sequencing of the ITS (internal transcribed spacer) region of the ribosomal DNA. Three additional genomic regions were spot‐checked. Results In 37 of the cases, a new genotype of T. mentagrophytes (referred to here as T. mentagrophytes VII) was isolated as the etiological agent, and sequencing revealed identical sequences for all isolates. Most of the infected patients had no history of travel, and only two patients reported contact with animals. Conclusions The new genotype clustered phylogenetically among the strains of the zoophilic species T. mentagrophytes with four different DNA markers. While human‐to‐human transmission of zoophilic dermatophytes is rare, transmission via sexual contact seemed to be quite effective here.

Trichophyton mentagrophytes and T interdigitale genotypes are associated with particular geographic areas and clinical manifestations

“…Recently, some investigations supported by molecular procedures indicated that ITS genotypes in the TMTISG still may be correlated with clinical pictures, geographic locations and antifungal resistance. [7][8][9] The question of association between particular TMTISG genotypes and clinical manifestations of infections by respective strains has not been addressed by statistical methods. Also, comprehensive analysis of geographic distribution of TMTISG genotypes is lacking.…”

S1 guidelines: Tinea capitis

“…Both in-house tests and commercially available test systems (kits) may be used for this purpose [50][51][52]. In the aforementioned cases, the disease course correlated with the molecular findings [53,54]. Thus, molecular techniques are significantly more rapid (24-48 hours versus 2-6 weeks for culture-based methods) and sensitive than KOH preparation and culture [43].…”

“…In two other patients, the dermatophyte was detectable by PCR-based methods for several weeks, whereas cultures remained negative. In the aforementioned cases, the disease course correlated with the molecular findings [53,54]. Further comparative studies should be conducted in order to determine whether -apart from enabling more rapid pathogen identification -PCR-based methods are also suitable for treatment monitoring in patients with TC.…”

German-Wide Analysis of the Prevalence and the Propagation Factors of the Zoonotic Dermatophyte Trichophyton benhamiae

“…If neither of the two variants was detected, a pan-dermatophyte-specific PCR and external sequencing (LGC Genomics GmbH, Berlin, Germany) followed for species differentiation. For this PCR, the ITS5 primer [ 4 ] was used in combination with a pan-dermatophyte-specific reverse primer [ 5 ] to amplify the entire ITS1 region. The annealing temperature was 56 °C.…”