Infectious keratitis caused by Aspergillus tubingensis.
OBJECTIVE
To report 2 cases of keratomycosis caused by Aspergillus tubingensis.


METHODS
The therapeutic courses were recorded for 2 male patients, 52 and 78 years old, with fungal keratitis caused by black Aspergillus strains. Morphological examination of the isolates was carried out on malt extract agar plates. A segment of the beta-tubulin gene was used for molecular identification. Antifungal susceptibilities were determined by the E test method for molds and the broth microdilution technique National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards M38-A.


RESULTS
A 52-year-old man presented with complaints of pain and redness in the right eye. The patient was successfully treated with natamycin and econazole eyedrops, itraconazole eye ointment, and oral ketoconazole. A 78-year-old man presented with total corneal necrosis in the right eye. A therapeutic keratoplasty was performed, and topical natamycin and econazole were applied. At the postoperative visit after 3 weeks, almost the full corneal graft was clear with formed anterior chamber. Black Aspergillus strains were isolated from the corneal scrapings of both cases and initially identified as Aspergillus niger based on culture characteristics. Sequence analysis of a segment of the beta-tubulin gene revealed that the isolates are representatives of A. tubingensis.


CONCLUSIONS
Aspergillus tubingensis is closely related with A. niger, the differentiation of these 2 species is difficult by classical morphological criteria. To our knowledge, the presented cases of fungal keratitis are the first reports on ocular infection caused by A. tubingensis.
Kredics
László
L
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science and Informatics, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
Varga
János
J
Kocsubé
Sándor
S
Rajaraman
Revathi
R
Raghavan
Anita
A
Dóczi
Ilona
I
Bhaskar
Madhavan
M
Németh
Tibor Mihály
TM
Antal
Zsuzsanna
Z
Venkatapathy
Narendran
N
Vágvölgyi
Csaba
C
Samson
Robert A
RA
Chockaiya
Manoharan
M
Palanisamy
Manikandan
M
D000284:Administration, Oral; D000368:Aged; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D001228:Aspergillosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D001230:Aspergillus / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016039:Corneal Transplantation; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004464:Econazole / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006801:Humans; D007634:Keratitis / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000601:surgery; D007654:Ketoconazole / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010866:Natamycin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D009883:Ophthalmic Solutions
D000935:Antifungal Agents; D009883:Ophthalmic Solutions; D004464:Econazole; D010866:Natamycin; D007654:Ketoconazole