To determine the profiles of susceptibility to antifungal and the genotypes of clinical isolates of Cryptococcus in Bahia, Brazil, 62 isolates were collected from cases of meningitis in the period from 2006 to 2010. Their susceptibilities to fluconazole, itraconazole, amphotericin B and 5-flucytosine were determined by the broth microdilution technique described by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute and genotyping of the URA5 gene was accomplished by restriction fragment length polymorphism. C. neoformans accounted for 79% of the identified yeast and C. gattii represented the remaining 21%. Evaluation of the genotypes determined that 100% of the C. gattii isolates belong to the VGII genotype, and 98% of the C. neoformans isolates belong to the VNI genotype. Determination of susceptibility revealed isolates resistant to fluconazole (4.8%), 5-flucytosine (1.6%) and amphotericin B (3.2%); the stratification of sensitivity results for each species showed significant differences in susceptibility to azoles. This study is the first to describe the susceptibility profiles of molecular and clinical isolates of Cryptococcus in Bahia, Brazil. The high percentage of C. gattii isolates belonging to the VGII genotype and its lower susceptibility to antifungal agents highlight the importance of knowing which species are involved in cryptococcal infections in northeastern Brazil.

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Dysbiosis is characterized by a disruption of bacterial homeostasis and may be associated with various skin diseases. Acne is a multifactorial inflammatory disease with a robust microbial component and numerous correlations with dysbiosis states. Furthermore, various factors are recognized as triggers for skin dysbiosis, including the use of certain cosmetics. Based on these arguments, we hypothesized that the use of photoprotective formulations could trigger dysbiosis and the occurrence of acne manifestations. To verify this assumption, six volunteers between 19 and 23 years of age, meeting all the inclusion criteria, received two applications a day of a non-commercial sunscreen formulation developed with the sun filters ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate, ethylhexyl salicylate, methyl anthranilate, and octocrylene dispersed in a base gel, with an estimated protection factor of 28.8. The pure base gel was used as a control. The samples were applied to an area delimited by a standard template (15 cm2) in an amount corresponding to 30 mg (2 mg cm2) for ten days. At two points in time, pre- and post-sample applications, the facial skin surface was swabbed to collect extracted DNA and processed to verify divergent degrees of 16S RNA coding sequences. The data obtained allowed us to determine the abundance of different bacterial entities at the genus and species levels. The results showed that key species of the acne process, such as Cutibacterium acnes and Staphylococcus epidermidis, seem to tolerate the evaluated formulation well, not being significantly affected by the formulation, suggesting no interference of its use concerning dysbiosis induction.

Chemically defined culture media (CDCMs) have their compositions qualitatively and quantitatively known. They are constituted of components able to meet the nutritional requirements of microorganisms. This study evaluated the employability of a multivitamin as the basis for the elaboration of a CDCM for experiments with yeasts. Candida albicans reference strains ATCC®90028™ and SC5314 were used. YNB® without amino acid (Difco Co.) was used as the standard in evaluations. For the preparation of the experimental culture medium (MycoDef), commercial multivitamin tablets had their coatings removed and were crushed until obtaining a fine powder; missing constituents were added. Comparisons were carried out evaluating aerobic and anaerobic planktonic growth rate, biofilm formation rate, whole-cell protein patterns by SDS-PAGE, minimum inhibitory concentrations and minimal fungicidal concentrations for clotrimazole, fluconazole, nystatin, and griseofulvin. Growth in MycoDef and YNB® did not differ between them (p>0.05) in both normoxic and anoxic conditions. Regarding employability for sensitivity testing, MycoDef showed performance like YNB®. The protein profiles of cells grown on both media did not differ in the number and positioning of bands. The results obtained allowed us to infer that MycoDef is a reliable low-cost culture medium useful for trials involving C. albicans.