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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
Author(s) -
Zhang Enshi,
Sugita Takashi,
Tsuboi Ryoji,
Yamazaki Takashi,
Makimura Koichi
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
microbiology and immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1348-0421
pISSN - 0385-5600
DOI - 10.1111/j.1348-0421.2011.00341.x
Subject(s) - biology , trichosporon , nested polymerase chain reaction , microbiology and biotechnology , genotype , polymerase chain reaction , intergenic region , pathogen , immunology , yeast , gene , genetics , genome
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.