Sporotrichosis is a subcutaneous infection caused by fungi from the genus Sporothrix, among which Sporothrix brasiliensis displays high virulence and transmissibility. So far, classical antifungal agents have been efficient against S. brasiliensis, but here we describe the first case of therapeutic failure and a high minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) in relation to itraconazole.

COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus causes a wide range of clinical manifestations, ranging from mild to severe, with the main ones affecting the respiratory tract, such as pneumonia. In patients with greater severity, the high frequency of bacterial and fungal coinfection stands out, a situation related both to the patient's pre-existing comorbidities and due to the hospitalization itself. Cases of mucormycosis associated with COVID-19 were highlighted in the lay and scientific media, with the increase in mycosis cases being directly and indirectly attributed to the viral infection. This report describes a case of rhino-orbito-cerebral mucormycosis in a diabetic patient hospitalized for COVID-19, whose diagnosis was confirmed by identifying the agent Rhizopus microsporus var. microsporus through culture for fungi and PCR examination.

The skin is the largest organ in the body and is the site for a diverse set of diseases. Yet, given the complexity of the cutaneous tissue, there is a limited availability of data in the literature on skin proteomics. Here, we proposed an adapted and optimized protocol for the extraction of proteins from human skin, using a combination of chemical and mechanical lysis approaches. For this, we used of a lysis buffer containing 2% SDS, 50 mM TEAB, and a 1% protease and phosphatase inhibitor cocktail, in addition to Matrix A beads and a FastPrep-24 5G homogenizer. For the characterization of the samples, the obtained proteins were purified and digested using the SP3 method (Single-pot, solid phase, sample preparation), and analyzed by nano liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. In this way, we were able to identify around 6000 proteins in the skin samples from healthy individuals and patients with the fungal infection sporotrichosis. Our improved methodology could significantly enrich our understanding of skin biology and provide new perspectives for the discovery of biomarkers and therapeutic targets for cutaneous diseases.