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Trichosporon asahii is considered an opportunistic pathogen responsible for severe infections, mainly in immunocompromised patients. The aims of this study were to investigate the prevalent genotypes among 39 clinical isolates of this microorganism by sequencing the IGS1 region and to determine the in vitro production of DNAse, hemolysin, aspartyl proteinase, phospholipase and esterase, as well as the susceptibilities of the isolates to amphotericin B, anidulafungin, micafungin, caspofungin, voriconazole, posaconazole, fluconazole and 5-flucytosine. Our findings showed that genotype I was the most prevalent comprising 69.23% of the isolates. We confirmed the production of esterase for all our isolates, and report the production of DNAse and aspartyl proteinase in 84.62% and 23% of the isolates, respectively. Only one isolate of T. asahii produced hemolysin. None of the isolates showed phospholipase activity. Fifty-three percent of the T. asahii strains exhibited amphotericin B MICs ≥ 2 μg/ml. The three echinocandins evaluated yielded high MICs (≥2 μg/ml) in all isolates. Thirty-five percent of the isolates had high MICs for 5-flucytosine (≥32 μg/ml), and 97% of the isolates were susceptible to the evaluated triazoles., (© The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The International Society for Human and Animal Mycology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Invasive Trichosporon infection is a rare, life-threatening infection in immunocompromised patients. It has been reported as an emerging opportunistic infection in those with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Only 12 cases of invasive trichosporonosis in patients with HIV have been documented, none in Southeast Asia. We report a case of fatal, disseminated trichosporonosis in a Filipino AIDS patient with severe cutaneous and pulmonary involvement. Invasive trichosporonosis should be considered in HIV-positive patients with disseminated fungal infection since this may be refractory to conventional antifungal treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Trichosporon spp. are yeasts capable of causing invasive disease, which mainly affect immunocompromised patients. A clinical strain of T. asahii was isolated from the blood cultures of patients admitted to the General Hospital of Fortaleza. Susceptibility tests were conducted by disk diffusion and broth microdilution. The isolated strain of T. asahii was resistant to fluconazole. The patient used amphotericin B and caspofungin in order to facilitate the microbiological cure. It was the first isolation and identification of T. asahii in blood culture in Ceará, Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]