Occurrence and molecular characterization of cryptococcosis in dogs and cats in Mato Grosso, Brazil

Abstract

Pesq. Vet. Bras. 34(2):167-172 fevereiro 2014 167 RESUMO.-[Ocorrência e caracterização da criptococose em cães e gatos em Mato Grosso.] A criptococose é uma infecção que afeta humanos e animais sendo a etiologia atribuída às espécies Cryptococcus neoformans variedade neoformans, C. neoformans var. grubii e C. gattii. A doença é comum em cães e gatos, causando infecções respiratórias, neurológicas, cutâneas e oculares. Com o objetivo de entender melhor a epidemiologia da criptococose em animais, este trabalho descreve a ocorrência e a caracterização de espécies de Cryptococcus em pequenos animais doentes no Estado de Mato Grosso, Brasil. Amostras clínicas de quatro casos, dois em felinos e dois em caninos, foram submetidas à análise patológica, microbiológica e molecular. Microscopicamente, em três casos, nos cortes de tecidos corados pela hematoxilina notou-se desde ausência até acentuada inflamação granulomatosa composta por histiócitos, célu-las multinucleadas e infiltração linfocitária. Em um caso, na análise citológica de "imprint" observou-se infiltrado inflamatório similar composto principalmente por células mononucleares e linfócitos. Em todos os casos havia variá-vel quantidade de estruturas fúngicas intra e extracelulares Cryptococcosis is an infection that affects humans and animals, the etiology is attributed to Cryptococcus neoformans variety neoformans, C. neoformans var. grubii and Cryptococcus gattii. The infection is common in dogs and cats, causing respiratory, neurological, cutaneous and ocular infections. Aiming to better understand the epidemiology of cryptococcosis in animals in the region, this paper describe the occurrence and characterization of the Cryptococcus species involved in this illness in pet animals at Mato Grosso State, Brazil. Clinical samples of four cases, two in cats and two dogs, were submitted for pathological, microbiological and molecular analysis. Microscopically, in three cases, tissue sections stained with hematoxylin and eosin had absence to severe granulomatous reaction composed by histiocytes, multinucleated cells and lymphocytes infiltration. In one case, citological imprint analysis showed similar inflammatory mainly mononuclear and lymphocyte cells infiltration. All cases had variable amounts of intracellular and extracellular fungal structures compatible with Cryptococcus sp. on Periodic Acid-Schiff (PAS) stain. All clinical samples were positive for culture on Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA) and morphologically classified as Cryptococcus sp. The isolates were PCR positive for C. gatti, being confirmed by sequencing technique. The findings characterize the molecular species involved in animal infections in the region, and may contribute to future studies of the epidemiology of C. gattii.

Fungal pneumonia in dogs and cats with pulmonary clinical signs in southern Brazil

“…No published epidemiological studies were found of fungal pneumonia in cats. Among the case reports of mycotic disease in Brazil, four of these described clinical signs associated with the presence of pneumonia, including one dog with coccidiomycosis (Lorigados et al 2012), one with aspergillosis (Carvalho 2013), one with cryptococcosis (Paula et al 2014) and two cats with histoplasmosis (Brilhante et al 2012, Silveira et al 2016.…”

Unusual clinical presentation of cryptococcosis in an immunocompetent cat

“…More recently, Cryptococcus infection in FIV‐negative and FeLV‐negative patients was reported in two cases, where the cats were presented either with a nasal granuloma8 or with a ulcerated mass in the nasal region associated with nasal discharge and poor clinical condition 9. In both the cases, the clinical presentation raised the main suspicion of cutaneous cryptococcosis.…”

Cryptococcosis due to Cryptococcus gattii VGII in southeast Brazil: The One Health approach revealing a possible role for domestic cats

“…In these cases, itraconazole is a better option [5]. In previous reports from Brazil due to C. gattii , a cat presenting a nasal granuloma achieved clinical cure after six months therapy of itraconazole/5-flucytosine combination [7] and the other case, which presented a mass on the nasal region and partial obstruction of the nostrils, died 40 days after itraconazole therapy [8]. Case 2 failed to initially respond to itraconazole and the correspondent strain was a non-WT to itraconazole and voriconazole, with a non-WT organism showing reduced susceptibility to the agent being evaluated when compared to the WT population [11], as was observed in case 2.…”

“…In Brazil, very few animal cases of cryptococcosis have been documented [7,8] and most of them do not discriminate the causative species complexes: C. neoformans from C. gattii . We describe herein two cases of feline cryptococcosis due to C. gattii in the state of Rio de Janeiro, southeast Brazil, focusing on the differential diagnosis, treatment and clinical outcome, along with the phenotypic identification, molecular typing and in vitro antifungal susceptibility of the agents.…”