Dermatomycoses are a group of diseases worldwide distributed and affect\nskin, hair and nails. Several fungal species can be envolved and keratinophilic\nfungi belonging to the genera Trichophyton, Microsporum and Epidermophyton\nare very common. These infections are globally distributed and their\nincidence has progressively increased. Despite their high incidence, few studies\nhave been carried out in HIV-infected patients, regarding frequency, clinical\npresentations, and species identification. This study aimed to evaluate some\nepidemiological and clinical aspects of dermatophytosis in HIV-infected patients\nand to attempt phenotypical and molecular characteristics of their\nagents. Of 398 patients included, 306 were HIV-infected. Clinical data and\nsamples of skin, hair and nail lesions were simultaneously obtained. The\ndermatophytes yielded in culture were phenotypically identified and evaluated\nby ITS-RFLP and ITS (Internal Transcribed Space) sequencing. Dermatophytes\nfrequency in HIV-infected patients with cutaneous lesions was\n11.76% similar to the 15.22% observed in non-HIV individuals. Trichophyton\nrubrum was the most common isolated species in both groups. Throught\nITS-RFLP, 29/32 (90.63%) of dermatophytes isolates were identified at the\nspecies level. From the 10 isolates randomly selected for ITS sequencing, seven\nconfirmed the ITS-RFLP results while three Trichophyton sp. were not\nidentified as dermatophytes. The identification of these species in HIV-infected\npatients is highly desirable in order to improve the knowledge of their frequency, geographical distribution and relation to clinical presentation.
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