Background: In recent decades, globalization and international migration have increased the spread of infectious agents, including dermatophytes. Although considered minor infections, dermatophytoses are highly contagious, and they significantly reduce the quality of life, inducing itching, burning, sleep disturbances, and even depressive states. Moreover, the increasing resistance to antifungals threats the public health and burdens the costs for the healthcare system. Methods: DermaGenius^® Resistance Multiplex real-time PCR assay allowed to analyze the terbinafine susceptibility/resistance of 172 Trichophyton strains, which were isolated from human and animal samples collected from 2016 to May 2024 and previously identified by Sanger sequencing. Results: All the 11 animal strains belonged to the T. interdigitale/T. mentagrophytes complex and tested terbinafine sensitive. Out of 161 human strains, 9 (5.6%) showed terbinafine resistance and 7 (4.3%) were identified as T. indotineae. Conclusions: This study provides preliminary data about behavior toward antifungals in animals and finalizes the scientific information currently available about human strains, highlighting the importance of the One Health concept. Moreover, it supports the relevant role of T. indotineae as an emerging dermatophyte with high proportion of terbinafine resistance.

Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of a combined approach of liquid-based anal cytology and human papillomavirus (HPV) testing in predicting patients who should undergo high-resolution anoscopy for the early detection of anal cancer and anal intraepithelial neoplasia (AIN)-2+. Methods: We conducted a prospective single-center quality improvement study. We consecutively enrolled men who had sex with men (MSM) attending our sexually transmitted disease clinic to undergo anal Papanicolaou (Pap) and HPV tests. All patients with an abnormal anal Pap test result and/or positive HPV test result underwent high-resolution anoscopy. Results: We enrolled 217 MSM, 80 HIV-positive patients, and 137 HIV-negative patients. Cytology showed a sensitivity of 100%, a specificity of 64.1%, an accuracy of 66.7%, a positive predictive value (PPV) of 15.7%, and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 100% for the detection of AIN-2+. The high-risk (HR)-HPV test showed sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, PPV, and NPV of 100%, 36.4%, 40%, 9.4%, and 100%, respectively. The combination of abnormal cytology with identification of infection by at least 1 HR-HPV strain on the HPV test had a sensitivity of 100%, a specificity of 73%, an accuracy of 74.6%, a PPV of 19.1%, and an NPV of 100%. Conclusion: Anal HR-HPV testing, complementary to cytology, improves the diagnostic accuracy of screening for anal cancer.

Introduction Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a common sexually transmitted disease connected with extensive drug resistance to many antibiotics. Presently, only expanded spectrum cephalosporins (ceftriaxone and cefixime) and azithromycin remain useful for its management. Areas covered New chemotypes for the classical antibiotic drug target gyrase/topoisomerase IV afforded inhibitors with potent binding to these enzymes, with an inhibition mechanism distinct from that of fluoroquinolones, and thus less prone to mutations. The alpha-carbonic anhydrase from the genome of this bacterium (NgCA alpha) was also validated as an antibacterial target. Expert opinion By exploiting different subunits from the gyrase/topoisomerase IV as well as new chemotypes, two new antibiotics reached Phase II/III clinical trials, zoliflodacin and gepotidacin. They possess a novel inhibition mechanism, binding in distinct parts of the enzyme compared to the fluoroquinolones. Other chemotypes with inhibitory activity in these enzymes were also reported. NgCA alpha inhibitors belonging to a variety of classes were obtained, with several sulfonamides showing MIC values in the range of 0.25-4 mu g/mL and significant activity in animal models of this infection. Acetazolamide and similar CA inhibitors might thus be repurposed as antiinfectives. The scientific/patent literature has been searched for on PubMed, ScienceDirect, Espacenet, and PatentGuru, from 2016 to 2024.