Nocardia brasiliensis

Published in Ronald M. Atlas, James W. Snyder, Handbook Of Media for Clinical Microbiology, 2006

Ronald M. Atlas, James W. Snyder

Use: For the cultivation and differentiation of No-cardia and Streptomyces species based on utilization of gelatin. Nocardia asteroides usually exhibits no growth. Nocardia brasiliensis shows good growth and round, compact colonies. Streptomyces species show varying degrees of growth.

Trimethoprim and Trimethoprim–Sulfamethoxazole (Cotrimoxazole)

Published in M. Lindsay Grayson, Sara E. Cosgrove, Suzanne M. Crowe, M. Lindsay Grayson, William Hope, James S. McCarthy, John Mills, Johan W. Mouton, David L. Paterson, Kucers’ The Use of Antibiotics, 2017

Jason A. Trubiano, M. Lindsay Grayson

Nocardia species that are potential human pathogens include N. asteroides, N. farcinica, N. brasiliensis, N. caviae, N. transvalensis, N. otitidiscaviarum, and N. nova, although the first three are the most frequent pathogens (Arduino et al., 1993; Schiff et al., 1993; Farina et al., 1995; Brown-Elliott et al., 2006). Nocardiosis can be an acute, subacute, or chronic suppurative infection that ranges from mild cutaneous or pulmonary disease to aggressive and often fatal dissemination, with the clinical presentation and course depending on the degree of host immune suppression. Pulmonary disease and bloodborne spread to other organs, particularly the CNS, are the major clinical manifestations of N. asteroides infection. Nocardia farcinica is notable for its propensity to cause serious systemic infection in both normal and immunocompromised patients and its greater resistance to many antibacterial agents (Schiff et al., 1993). Nocardia brasiliensis more frequently causes infections of the skin and soft tissues, such as mycetoma. Mycetomas are chronic lesions, often on the lower extremities, with draining sinuses exuding sulfur granules (Smego and Gallis, 1984; Georghiou and Blacklock, 1992). Nocardia transvalensis, a rare Nocardia species, causes primary pulmonary and disseminated disease mainly in immunosuppressed patients and generally displays greater antimicrobial resistance than other Nocardia species, but successful therapy with CoT has been reported (McNeil et al., 1992; Weinberger et al., 1995).

Successful treatment with amoxicillin-clavulanic acid: cutaneous nocardiosis caused by Nocardia brasiliensis

Published in Journal of Dermatological Treatment, 2023

Youqi Ji, Fang Su, Xin Hong, Mengyuan Chen, Yongze Zhu, Dongqing Cheng, Yumei Ge

Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole is the first-line antibacterial agent for years in initial therapy of nocardiosis, occasionally combines with amikacin, third-generation cephalosporins, linezolid or imipenem (1,2). However, sulfonamide-resistant or linezolid-resistant Nocardia strains have been isolated in clinical in recent years, which brings great challenges to the clinical treatment of Nocardia (3,4). In addition, Sulfonamides are of great toxicity and side effects (5–8), mainly including: (1) anaphylaxis, accompanied by skin itching, rash, dermatitis or angioneurotic edema; (2) jaundice, abnormal liver function, acute liver necrosis;(3) crystal deposition in the urine, causing hematuria and renal calculus; (4) granulopenia, thrombocytopenia, aplastic anemia; (5) sulfonamides enter the fetal circulation through the placenta and affect infant development. Therefore, non-sulfonamides treatment of nocardiosis should be emphasized. Here, we reported a case of cutaneous nocardiosis caused by Nocardia brasiliensis infection in an immunocompetent individual who was successfully treated with amoxicillin-clavulanic acid.