title: The opportunistic yeast pathogen Trichosporon asahii colonizes the skin of healthy individuals: analysis of 380 healthy individuals by age and gender using a nested polymerase chain reaction assay.
abstract: Deep-seated trichosporonosis is an opportunistic fungal infection with a poor prognosis and high mortality rate. The major causative agent is Trichosporon asahii; its route of infection is not clear. To elucidate whether this microorganism is part of the cutaneous microbiota, we examined skin samples from 380 healthy Japanese ranging in age from 0 to 82 years using a nested PCR assay. The colonization frequency of T. asahii increased with age up to 13-15 years in male and 30-39 years in female subjects, subsequently decreasing gradually in both sexes until senescence. Of the nine genotypes of the intergenic spacer region of the T. asahii rRNA gene, type 1 predominated (81.7%), followed by types 4 (6.7%) and 6 (5.5%). The distribution of identified genotypes was similar to that for T. asahii isolated from clinical specimens (blood and urine) of patients with deep-seated trichosporonosis and quite different from that of environmental isolates. Additionally, T. asahii DNA was detected stably from skin samples over 1 year. The opportunistic yeast pathogen T. asahii is part of the cutaneous fungal microbiota in humans. Cutaneous T. asahii may be one of the routes through which deep-seated trichosporonosis is acquired, whereas environmental T. asahii is not associated with this infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Meiji Pharmaceutical University, Kiyose, Tokyo.
authors.forename: Enshi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sugita
authors.forename: Ryoji
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tsuboi
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamazaki
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Makimura
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002353:Carrier State / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016533:Mycological Typing Techniques; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors; D012867:Skin / Q000382:microbiology*; D014250:Trichosporon / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer