Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Jun 29:9:106-108.
doi: 10.1016/j.idcr.2017.05.014. eCollection 2017.

Prototheca: A Danger Underwater

Carolina Velez-Mejia  1 , Juan Velez-Londoño  2
Affiliations

Prototheca: A Danger Underwater

Carolina Velez-Mejia et al. IDCases. .

Abstract

Prototheca wickerhamii rarely causes systemic infection in humans but when it occurs, there are coexisting comorbidities. This case illustrated shows the manifestation of this opportunistic microorganism in an immunosuppressed patient. The patient was successfully treated with Liposomal amphotericin B with complete resolution of the lesions.

Keywords: Immunosuppression; Liposomal amphotericin B; Prototheca wickerhamii; Skin lesions.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1
Arrows are pointing to the cutaneous manifestation of the Prototheca in the immunocompromised patient.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Images are showing the histopathological finding of the Prototheca in Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) stain and Gomori Methenamine Silver (GMS) stain, A–B and C–D respectively.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Mohabeer A.J., Kaplan P.J., Southern P.M., Gander R.M. Algaemia due to Prototheca wickerhamii in a patient with myasthenia gravis. J Clin Microbiol. 1997;35(December (12)):3305–3307. - PMC - PubMed
    1. da Silva P.C.G., da C. e Silva S.B., Lima R.B., D’Acri A.M., Lupi O., Martins C.J. Cutaneous protothecosis – case report. An Bras Dermatol. 2013;6(Suppl. 1):183–185. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lass-Flörl C., Mayr A. Human protothecosis. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2007;20(April (2)):230–242. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chou D.-W., Chung K.-M., Lee C.-T. Prototheca wickerhamii cutaneous and systemic infections. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2014;el 1(October (4)):664–665. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Irrgang A., Murugaiyan J., Weise C., Azab W., Roesler U. Well-known surface and extracellular antigens of pathogenic microorganisms among the immunodominant proteins of the infectious microalgae Prototheca zopfii. Front Cell Infect Microbiol [Internet] 2015;(September) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4586511/ Available on: - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources