In vitro susceptibility of 58 isolates of Pichia anomala to five antifungal drugs using two broth microdilution methods (CLSI and EUCAST) was analyzed. Low susceptibility to itraconazole was observed. Fluconazole, voriconazole, amphotericin B, and caspofungin showed good antifungal activity, although relatively high drug concentrations were necessary to inhibit the isolates.

Leishmania (Leishmania) infantum is the etiological agent of both American visceral leishmaniasis (AVL) and non-ulcerated cutaneous leishmaniasis (NUCL) in Honduras. Although AVL is the most severe clinical form of infection, recent studies have shown that human immune response to parasite infection can result in a clinical-immunological spectrum. The overall prevalence rate of infection and clinical-immunological profiles of the L. (L.) infantum infection in Amapala municipality, South Honduras was determined. We examined 576 individuals with diagnosis based on combined ELISA (IgG/IgM) and DTH assays. We also used genus-specific kDNA PCR and Hsp70 PCR-RFLP for NUCL cases. Clinical evaluation found 82% asymptomatic and 18% symptomatic individuals. All symptomatic cases (n = 104) showing NUCL were positive for parasites. We identified L. (L.) infantum species in 100% of the skin lesion scrapings and in 90% of the blood samples from NUCL cases studied. A total of 320 asymptomatic individuals were exposed (ELISA+ and/or DTH+), providing an overall L. (L.) infantum prevalence of 73.6%. Clinical, parasitological, and immunological evaluations suggest seven infection profiles, three asymptomatic and four symptomatic. This represents the first report on clinical and immunological features of human L. (L.) infantum-infection in Amapala municipality, Honduras.

Canine exposure to Lutzomyia longipalpis bites and the potential of Leishmania infantum transmissibility for the vector were evaluated.

Individuals infected with Leishmania (L.) chagasi may present different asymptomatic and symptomatic stages of infection, which vary in the clinical–immunological profiles that can be classified as asymptomatic infection (AI), subclinical resistant infection (SRI), indeterminate initial infection (III), subclinical oligosymptomatic infection (SOI), and symptomatic infection (SI) (=American visceral leishmaniasis, AVL). However, little is known about the molecular differences between individuals having each profile. Here, we performed whole-blood transcriptomic analyses of 56 infected individuals from Pará State (Brazilian Amazon), covering all five profiles. We then identified the gene signatures of each profile by comparing their transcriptome with those of 11 healthy individuals from the same area. Symptomatic individuals with SI (=AVL) and SOI profiles showed higher transcriptome perturbation when compared to those asymptomatic III, AI and SRI profiles, suggesting that disease severity may be associated with greater transcriptomic changes. Although the expression of many genes was altered on each profile, very few genes were shared among the profiles. This indicated that each profile has a unique gene signature. The innate immune system pathway was strongly activated only in asymptomatic AI and SRI profiles, suggesting the control of infection. In turn, pathways such as MHC Class II antigen presentation and NF-kB activation in B cells seemed to be specifically induced in symptomatic SI (=AVL) and SOI profiles. Moreover, cellular response to starvation was down-regulated in those symptomatic profiles. Overall, this study revealed five distinct transcriptional patterns associated to the clinical–immunological (symptomatic and asymptomatic) profiles of human L. (L.) chagasi-infection in the Brazilian Amazon.