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
Case Reports
. 2021 Jul 24:25:e01239.
doi: 10.1016/j.idcr.2021.e01239. eCollection 2021.

Firstcase of pneumonia-parapneumonic effusion due to Trichoderma longibrachiatum

Vasiliki Epameinondas Georgakopoulou  1 , Despoina Melemeni  2 , Konstantinos Mantzouranis  2 , Christos Damaskos  3   4 , Aikaterini Gkoufa  5 , Serafeim Chlapoutakis  6 , Nikolaos Garmpis  3   4 , Anna Garmpi  7 , Pagona Sklapani  8 , Nikolaos Trakas  9 , Xanthi Tsiafaki  2
Affiliations
Case Reports

Firstcase of pneumonia-parapneumonic effusion due to Trichoderma longibrachiatum

Vasiliki Epameinondas Georgakopoulou et al. IDCases. .

Abstract

Trichoderma longibrachiatum is a fungus belonging to the genus Trichoderma. Trichoderma longibrachiatum is not thought as a pathogenic for healthy individuals. However, it has the ability to produce toxic peptides and extracellular proteases and has been described to cause invasive infections in immunocompromised hosts. Trichoderma longibrachiatum has been reported as the causative microorganism of lung infections, skin infections, sinus infections, otitis, stomatitis endocarditis, pericarditis, gastrointestinal infections, mediastinitis and peritonitis. We report the first case of pneumonia with parapneumonic effusion in an old woman with diabetes mellitus due to Trichoderma longibrachiatum.

Keywords: ADA, adenosine deaminase; ALP, alkaline phosphatase; ALT, alanine transaminase; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; CRP, C-reactive protein; CT, computerized tomography; Diabetes mellitus; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; FiO2, fraction of inspired oxygen; Fungal infection; GGT, gamma glutamyl transferase; HIV, human immunodeficiency virus; Hb, hemoglobin; Ht, hematocrit; LDH, serum lactate dehydrogenase; PTLS, platelets; Pleural effusion; SG, specific gravity; TSH, thyroid-stimulating hormone; Trichoderma longibrachiatum; WBC, white blood cells.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no declarations of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Chest X-Ray showing consolidation in the left lower lobe with left pleural effusion.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Computerized tomography (CT) of the chest showing left pleural effusion.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Chest X-Ray showing increase in amount of left pleural effusion.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Trichoderma species on Sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA). Arrow shows rapidly growing flat green colonies.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Samuels G.J., Ismaiel A., Mulaw T.B., Szakacs G., Druzhinina I.S., Kubicek C.P. The Longibrachiatum Clade of Trichoderma: a revision with new species. Fungal Divers. 2012;55(1):77–108. doi: 10.1007/s13225-012-0152-2. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mikkola R., Andersson M.A., Kredics L., Grigoriev P.A., Sundell N., Salkinoja-Salonen M.S. 20-Residue and 11-residue peptaibols from the fungus Trichoderma longibrachiatum are synergistic in forming Na+/K+ -permeable channels and adverse action towards mammalian cells. FEBS J. 2012;279(22):4172–4190. doi: 10.1111/febs.12010. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sautour M., Chrétien Ml, Valot S., Lafon I., Basmaciyan L., Legouge C. First case of proven invasive pulmonary infection due to Trichoderma longibrachiatum in a neutropenic patient with acute leukemia. J Mycol Med. 2018;28(4):659–662. doi: 10.1016/j.mycmed.2018.10.001. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kredics L., Antal Z., Szekeres A., Manczinger L., Dóczi I., Kevei F. Production of extracellular proteases by human pathogenic Trichoderma longibrachiatum strains. Acta Microbiol Immunol Hung. 2004;51(3):283–295. - PubMed
    1. Rodrigues C.F., Rodrigues M.E., Henriques M. Candida sp. infections in patients with diabetes mellitus. J Clin Med. 2019;8(1):76. doi: 10.3390/jcm8010076. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types