No abstract

Cryptococcosis is a fungal disease of public health relevance that affects numerous animal species and humans, causing respiratory and neurological impairment. Hence, we conducted a systematic review that included publications from 1975 to 2021 and covered 132 articles that addressed reports of cryptococcosis in domestic and wild animals, its main clinical manifestations, pathological findings, etiology, diagnosis, and therapeutic protocols. We found that the highest number of reports of cryptococcosis is in domestic species, especially cats. Among the wild and/or exotic animals, koalas and ferrets are the most affected, b eing important carriers of Cryptococcus spp.. Pulmonary and neurological involvement is predominant in all species, although nonspecific clinical manifestations have been reported in various species, making clinical suspicion and diagnosis difficult. The countries with the most reports are Australia, United States, Brazil and Canada, with C. gattii VGI and VGII standing out. The therapies were based on azoles, amphotericin B, and 5-flucytosine, although there is no standard treatment protocol. Although several diagnostic methods have been described, in a significant number of reports the diagnosis was made after necropsy. Professionals are warned about diverse and nonspecific clinical manifestations in different animal species, which underlines the importance of cryptococcosis in the differential diagnosis in clinical practice. Furthermore, it is necessary to encourage the use of laboratory and molecular tools to improve the diagnosis of cryptococcosis. We also emphasize the urgent need for standardized therapeutic protocols to guide veterinary clinicians.

Brain, lungs and intestines of Columba livia captured in Brazil were analyzed for research of Tremellomycetes. Mycological culture presented the growth of colonies suggestive of Cryptococcus spp. in 11.60% (13/112) of the samples. Microscopy revealed capsulated yeast cells. Molecular analysis evidenced Papiliotrema flavescens, Naganishia diffluens, Filobasidium magnum, and Naganishia randhawae. Thermotolerance of Tremellomycetes isolates from brain and lung (n = 10) evidenced cell growth and viability at 37°C. At 42°C/24 h, these isolates showed viability, except for one P. flavescens isolate. Here, we report the first isolation of Tremellomycetes species from brain and lung of healthy C. livia.

Pythiosis is a serious disease caused by the aquatic oomycete Pythium insidiosum that mainly affects mammals. Unlike fungal and bacterial resistance induced by the indiscriminate use of drugs, P. insidiosum has low susceptibility to antifungal drugs. In this sense, essential oils and their major components emerge as a promising treatment line for this disease. Given the above, this study sought to verify P. insidiosum (n = 34) susceptibility to the bioactive compounds eugenol, α-terpineol, menthol, and carvacrol and correlate them with the respective essential oils of Eugenia caryophyllata, Melaleuca alternifolia, Mentha piperita, and Origanum vulgare. The essential oils and bioactive compounds were purchased commercially and tested according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute protocol M38-A2. Our findings showed that eugenol, α-terpineol, and carvacrol had superior anti-P. insidiosum action than their respective essential oils, suggesting that they may be responsible for inhibitory activity against P. insidiosum. Notably, the major compound with the best anti-P. insidiosum activity was α-terpineol; nonetheless, menthol showed less activity than its essential oil. The results imply that essential oils and their major compounds may be important allies in treating pythiosis, expanding the perspectives of developing new drugs with anti-P. insidiosum activity.

Background: Maintaining mosquito colonies in the laboratory implies the need for a blood supply so that females can mature their oocytes and perform oviposition. In this study, a new artificial hematophagy system for colonization and maintenance of Cx quinquefasciatusin the laboratory, was developed and tested. Methods: We developed an attractive polymeric biofilm with 25% L-lactic acid in its composition, to be used as a membrane in the artificial hematophagy system and compared the feeding rate of females with Parafilm - M®. We also evaluated the oviposition rate, larval survival, and adult emergence of females fed through the attractive biofilm. Results: The average percentage of females of Cx. quinquefasciatusfed through the Attractive biofilm was 87%, while only 20% engorged with Parafilm-M® (p<0.0001). Feeding through the attractive biofilm developed by us was able to produce high rates of the evaluated biological parameters, the percentage of laying of females who performed artificial hematophagy through the biofilm was 90%, with an average of 158 eggs per raft. Of these eggs, 97% of the larvae hatched, of which 95% reached the pupal stage. The adult emergence rate corresponded to 93% of the pupae. Conclusions: The attractive biofilm was superior to Parafilm-M® in terms of engorgement rate. In addition, feeding with the biofilm ensured significant rates of the evaluated biological parameters and there was no interference of the biofilm components in the biological parameters.