Publications by authors named "Saham Ansari"

Background And Purpose: Plants are crucial habitats for fungus communities as they provide an appropriate physical environment for the growth and reproduction of the yeast microbiome. Varieties of pathogenic and non-pathogenic yeast could be found in trees. Although species are the most common pathogenic yeasts associated with trees, other yeasts also grow on trees and are critical to human health.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The fungal nail infection (onychomycosis) involves 18%-40% of all nail disorders, which, although not fatal, can cause mechanical, aesthetic, occupational, and economic problems. Drug treatments due to prolonged treatment periods, drug interactions, adverse effects, and slow progression may associate with numerous negative outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate the long-pulsed 1064-nm Nd: YAG laser effect on fungal colonies and subsequently possible change in the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of common antifungals compared with the same non-lasered colonies as a novel way to investigate laser and antifungal interaction.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Fungal species are responsible for 40%-50% of all microbial keratitis cases. Due to the low amount of extracted DNA in ocular Formalin-fixed Paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples, selecting a reliable molecular method is a substantial issue in this field.

Methods: Sixty-six samples were collected via the penetrating keratoplasty (PK) technique.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Diabetes mellitus patients are prone to cutaneous and subcutaneous fungal infections due to pathogenic fungi, including dermatophytes, Mucorales, , , and species. Here, we report a case of mycetoma confirmed by isolation and molecular identification. The case was a 38-year-old male farmer with a seven-year history of type 2 diabetes mellitus, living in Khuzestan, southwest of Iran.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Purpose: The pandemic of COVID-19 has caused a worldwide health crisis. Candidemia is a potentially lethal condition that has not yet been enough discussed in patients with COVID-19. The current study aimed to investigate the prevalence of candidemia among Iranian COVID-19 patients and characterize its causative agents and the antifungal susceptibility pattern.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Patients with chronic granulomatous disease, a primary immunodeficiency, experience granulomatous complications and recurrent life-threatening opportunistic bacterial and fungal infections. In this article, we report on a case of invasive aspergillosis in an eight-year-old boy with chronic granulomatous disease, who presented with pleural effusion and pneumonia, cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, and unusual skin lesions caused by . Antifungal treatment with itraconazole and other antifungal agents, along with interferon-γ, was ineffective and the patient eventually died from cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, and intracerebral haemorrhage following increased intracranial pressure after one month.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Otomycosis is a superficial infection of the external ear caused by fungal pathogens. The genera Aspergillus and Candida are considered the main fungal causative agents, with the predominance of Aspergillus section Nigri. The present study aimed to evaluate the clinical symptoms of patients with otomycosis and predisposing factors and to identify fungal etiological agents using molecular approaches.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Diagnosis by clinical mycology laboratory plays a critical role in patient care by providing definitive knowledge of the cause of infection and antimicrobial susceptibility data to physicians. Rapid diagnostic methods are likely to improve patient. Aggressive resuscitation bundles, adequate source control, and appropriate antibiotic therapy are cornerstones for success in the treatment of patients.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Backgrounds: The pandemic of COVID-19 has created a global public health crisis. ICU patients with COVID-19 are prone to infections of bacterial and/or fungal origins due to several risk factors. Consequently, the current study was conducted to evaluate the frequency, demographic characteristics, underlying conditions, and etiologic agents of fungal and bacterial co-infections of the respiratory tract among ICU patients with COVID-19 in Iran.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Tracheoesophageal voice prostheses (TVPs) have been the gold standard in rehabilitation, after laryngectomy, producing faster and premier voicing towards esophageal speech. Fungal colonization shortens the device's lifetime and leads to prosthesis dysfunction, leakage, and subsequent respiratory infection. Therefore, in the current study, we aimed to investigate the fungal colonization patterns and to propose prophylactic measures that shall increase the longevity of voice prosthesis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Purpose: The main environmental saprobes, such as , play an essential role in natural ecosystems as economically, ecologically, and medically important microorganisms. Biodiversity of this genus has not been described in Bushehr city, Iran. The present study is based on air biodiversity of species on culture-dependent approach and culture-independent technique using partial b-tubulin sequences.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Purpose: The most common etiological agents of human dermatophytosis in various parts of the world are , , and . The main aim of this study was to design and evaluate a simple and straightforward multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for reliable identification/differentiation of these species in clinical isolates.

Materials And Methods: The reliable sequences of several molecular targets of dermatophytes species were used to design a multiplex PCR for the identification of common pathogenic dermatophytes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Fungal rhinosinusitis (FRS) encompasses a various spectrum of diseases. Histopathology is the "reference method" for diagnosing FRS, but it cannot determine the genus and species. Moreover, in more than 50% of the histopathologically proven cases, the culture elicited no reliable results.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Pathogens from the Trichophyton benhamiae complex are one of the most important causes of animal mycoses with significant zoonotic potential. In light of the recently revised taxonomy of this complex, we retrospectively identified 38 isolates that could not be resolved into any of the existing species. These strains were isolated from Iranian and Czech patients during molecular epidemiological surveys on dermatophytosis and were predominantly associated with highly inflammatory tinea corporis cases, suggesting possible zoonotic etiology.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The fungus genus Neoscytalidium is mainly distributed in (sub) tropical regions of the world and has been essentially considered as a phytopathogen. There are however several reports of human infection caused by Neoscytalidium spp. through direct or indirect contact with contaminated plants or soil.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Soil-occupant fungi produce a variety of mycotoxins as secondary metabolites, one of which is mycophenolic acid (MPA), an antibiotic and immunosuppressive agent. MPA is mainly produced by several species of Penicillium, especially Penicillium brevicompactum. Here, we present the first report of MPA production by a local strain belonging to Penicillium glabrum species.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A molecular epidemiology study was conducted between 2016 and 2017 by a network of collaborators from 12 provinces in the Islamic Republic of Iran. A total of 1484 soil samples from different habitats were screened for the presence of dermatophytes by using the hair baiting technique. The primary identification of isolates was carried out by amplification and I restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of the internal transcribed spacers regions of ribosomal DNA (ITS-rDNA).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Species from the Trichophyton benhamiae complex are mostly zoophilic dermatophytes which cause inflammatory dermatophytosis in animals and humans worldwide.

Objectives: This study was purposed to (a) to identify 169 reference and clinical dermatophyte strains from the T benhamiae complex species by molecular method and adhering to the newest taxonomy in the complex (b) to evaluate the in vitro antifungal susceptibility profile of these strains against eight common and new antifungal agents that may be used for the treatment of dermatophytosis.

Methods: All isolates, mainly originated from Europe but also from Iran, Japan and USA, were subjected to ITS-rDNA sequencing.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) is a common and debilitating long-term illness affecting million women worldwide. This disease is caused mainly by Candida albicans and a lesser extent by other species, including the two phylogenetically closely related pathogens Candida africana and Candida dubliniensis.

Objectives: In this study, we report detailed molecular epidemiological data about the occurrence of these two pathogenic yeasts in Iranian patients affected by VVC, or its chronic recurrent form (RVVC), and provide, for the first time, data on the antifungal activity of two new drugs, efinaconazole (EFN) and luliconazole (LUL).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a multi-factorial autoimmune disorder that its causative agents are unknown. The gut microbiota comprises of bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa that its role in IBD has remained controversially. Bacteria constitute more than 99% of the gut microbiota composition, and the main core of the gut microbiota is composed from Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Trichophyton benhamiae is a zoophilic dermatophyte mainly transmitted to humans from guinea pigs. This zoophilic species can also cause dermatophytosis as reported by human contact with other animals, such as rabbit, cat, and fox. Here, we report the tinea faciei and tinea corporis cases: a 12-year-old girl and her 53-year-old father, with no history of immunodeficiency and underlying disease, caused by T.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Trichophyton benhamiae is a dermatophyte causing skin infections and this study aimed to analyze its genotypes and antifungal susceptibility across different areas in Iran.
  • Twenty-two strains of T. benhamiae and two strains of T. eriotrephon were examined for genetic differences and their resistance to seven antifungal medications.
  • Results showed high genetic similarity among T. benhamiae strains, with terbinafine, posaconazole, and itraconazole being the most effective antifungals against them.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Microbial species such as bacteria and fungi can be transported by dust storms over long distances, and may change the mycobiota in downwind. This study aimed to evaluate phenotypes and genotypes of airborne fungi during the Middle Eastern dust (MED) events and normal days in Khorramabad, Iran. The samples were collected regularly every six days at three locations during April 2018-March 2019, with additional samplings during MED days.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Several previous studies have shown cavitary lung lesions in old pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) increase the risk of fungus ball. Detection of galactomannan (GM) in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) is also proposed as a diagnostic approach for the fungus ball.

Objectives: We evaluated the diagnosis of fungus balls and GM levels in BAL samples in PTB patients.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The (.) complex includes , , and , with the last mentioned as an important emerging agent of vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC). The aim of the study was to identify and and assess their drug susceptibility in vaginitis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF