title: Disseminated Candidiasis in a Young, Previously Healthy, Dog and Review of Literature.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The reports on disseminated candidiasis in dogs so far describe at least one predisposing factor. This case report, however, highlights candidiasis in a dog without any known predisposition.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 1.5-year-old intact female Hovawart dog was presented with subcutaneous nodules and polyuria/polydipsia. An excisional biopsy revealed a chronic pyogranulomatous and necrotizing inflammation with mycotic structures. The patient became febrile and lethargic, and developed lameness.
  
  
  METHODS
  A physical examination, blood tests, urinalysis, thoracic radiographs, abdominal ultrasonography of the abdomen, fine-needle aspiration biopsies, and a culture of a subcutaneous nodule aspirate were obtained. Selected sections of multiple organs were collected for routine histology postmortem. The isolate and a subcutaneous mass were subjected to molecular identification and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Clinical, laboratory, and radiological findings were consistent with a granulomatous chronic systemic inflammation. Cytology and histology showed a pyogranulomatous and necrotizing inflammation with myriads of intra- and extra-cellular yeasts and extracellular hyphae. Culture yielded numerous yeast colonies, which appeared Candida albicans-like, but showed a negative serum test and a low identification in API 20 C AUX. Nucleic acid sequences showed homology with the C. albicans-type strain CBS 562. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) resulted in a new type with designation DST121. The identification of the isolates was confirmed by MALDI-TOF-MS analysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Future MLST typing and investigation of virulence can provide further evidence whether this MLST-type is associated with clinical cases of disseminated candidiasis without an apparent predisposing condition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences of Companion Animals, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Yalelaan 108, 3584 CM, Utrecht, The Netherlands. n.willems@uu.nl.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8179-4954
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Willems
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Yalelaan 1, 3584 CL, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Dirk J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Houwers
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences of Companion Animals, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Yalelaan 108, 3584 CM, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Yvette M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Schlotter
authors.affiliation: Department of Yeast and Basidiomycete Research, CBS Fungal Biodiversity Centre, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Bart
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Theelen
authors.affiliation: Department of Yeast and Basidiomycete Research, CBS Fungal Biodiversity Centre, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Teun
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Boekhout
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D058365:Candidiasis, Invasive / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization
keywords: Albicans; Candida; Disseminated candidiasis; Dog; Hyphae; Mycosis; Yeasts