High Diversity of <i>Fusarium</i> Species in Onychomycosis: Clinical Presentations, Molecular Identification, and Antifungal Susceptibility

<i>Fusarium</i> are uncommon but important pathogenic organisms; they cause non-dermatophyte mould (NDM) onychomycosis. Patients typically respond poorly to treatment owing to Fusarium’s native resistance to multiple antifungal drugs. However, epidemiological data for Fusarium onychomyco...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lai-Ying Lu, Jie-Hao Ou, Rosaline Chung-Yee Hui, Ya-Hui Chuang, Yun-Chen Fan, Pei-Lun Sun
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-04-01
Series:Journal of Fungi
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2309-608X/9/5/534
Description
Summary:<i>Fusarium</i> are uncommon but important pathogenic organisms; they cause non-dermatophyte mould (NDM) onychomycosis. Patients typically respond poorly to treatment owing to Fusarium’s native resistance to multiple antifungal drugs. However, epidemiological data for Fusarium onychomycosis are lacking in Taiwan. We retrospectively reviewed the data of 84 patients with positive <i>Fusarium</i> nail sample cultures at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou Branch between 2014 and 2020. We aimed to investigate the clinical presentations, microscopic and pathological characteristics, antifungal susceptibility, and species diversity of <i>Fusarium</i> in patients with Fusarium onychomycosis. We enrolled 29 patients using the six-parameter criteria for NDM onychomycosis to determine the clinical significance of <i>Fusarium</i> in these patients. All isolates were subjected to species identification by sequences and molecular phylogeny. A total of 47 Fusarium strains belonging to 13 species in four different <i>Fusarium</i> species complexes (with <i>Fusarium keratoplasticum</i> predominating) were isolated from 29 patients. Six types of histopathology findings were specific to Fusarium onychomycosis, which may be useful for differentiating dermatophytes from NDMs. The results of drug susceptibility testing showed high variation among species complexes, and efinaconazole, lanoconazole, and luliconazole showed excellent in vitro activity for the most part. This study’s primary limitation was its single-centre retrospective design. Our study showed a high diversity of <i>Fusarium</i> species in diseased nails. Fusarium onychomycosis has clinical and pathological features distinct from those of dermatophyte onychomycosis. Thus, careful diagnosis and proper pathogen identification are essential in the management of NDM onychomycosis caused by <i>Fusarium</i> sp.
ISSN:2309-608X