The fungus amongst us! A new study has discovered that the presence of fungi in wounds can lead to poor health outcomes and longer healing times. Diabetics’ wounds often take longer to heal, and it is possible that the fungi present in diabetic foot ulcers may be the reason why. Foot ulcers are a complication that plagues up to one in 10 diabetics during their lives.
The fungi in these ulcers slowed down wound healing and sometimes led to an infection of the bone and subsequent amputation.
This research was carried out at the University of Pennsylvania and studied 100 diabetics suffering from foot ulcers for 26 weeks, or until the wound cleared up, or the foot was amputated. The wounds of all the patients located at the bottom of the foot, and all 100 received the identical treatment as well as providing deep wound fluid samples every two weeks that helped to identify the fungi embedded in the lesions.
“Chronic wounds are a silent epidemic,” said senior author Elizabeth Grice, assistant professor of dermatology and microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. “They usually occur in conjunction with another disorder such as diabetes or obesity, but once a chronic wound occurs, it requires a lot of healthcare and has a devastating effect on a patient’s quality of life.”
Researchers found that 80 percent of the wounds harbored fungi. Talk about things mushrooming out of control! The fungi in these ulcers slowed down wound healing and sometimes led to an infection of the bone and subsequent amputation. What physicians discovered is that by simply swabbing the wounds to analyze the fungi, they could accurately predict healing time.
What scientist noted is that wounds with higher levels of ascomycetes, a.k.a. sac fungi, required more than two months to heal. Postdoctoral researcher Lindsay Kalan observed that the fungi interacted with the bacteria in wounds, potentially causing biofilms – a nasty mildew – which could explain the longer duration for healing.
Grice noted the importance of this interaction could lead to properly targeted treatment for people with diabetic foot ulcers in the future and how her team intends now to explore further the interactions between the fungal and bacterial communities as it relates to the immune system.
