• Rodrigo Almeida-Paes, Manoel Marques Evangelista de Oliveira, Dayvison Francis Saraiva Freitas, Antônio Carlos Francesconi do Valle, Rosely Maria Zancopé-Oliveira, and Maria Clara Gutierrez-Galhardo.
• Laboratório de Micologia, Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
• PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2014 Sep 1;8(9):e3094.

BackgroundThere have been several recent changes in the taxonomy of Sporothrix schenckii as well as new observations regarding the clinical aspects of sporotrichosis. In this study, we determined the identification of the Sporothrix species associated with both classic and unusual clinical aspects of sporotrichosis observed in the endemic area of sporotrichosis in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.Methodology/Principal FindingsTo verify whether S. brasiliensis is associated with clinical manifestations of sporotrichosis, a cross-sectional study was performed in which Sporothrix isolates from 50 patients with different clinical manifestations were analyzed and their isolates were studied by phenotypic and genotypic methods. Data from these patients revealed a distinct clinical picture and therapeutic response in infections caused by Sporothrix brasiliensis (n = 45) compared to patients with S. schenckii sensu stricto (n = 5). S. brasiliensis was associated with disseminated cutaneous infection without underlying disease, hypersensitivity reactions, and mucosal infection, whereas patients with S. schenckii presented with less severe and more often localized disease, similar to the majority of previously described sporotrichosis cases. Interestingly, S. brasiliensis-infected patients overall required shorter durations of itraconazole (median 16 weeks) compared to the individuals with S. schenckii (median 24 weeks).Conclusions/SignificanceThese findings suggest that Sporothrix species are linked to different clinical manifestations of sporotrichosis and that S. brasiliensis is effectively treated with oral itraconazole.

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