Fungal Infections Essay

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The epidemiology of fungal infections has changed during the last decade as well as dramatic improvements can be seen in the antifungal therapies [1]. Eventhough there is remarkable progress in diagnostic and antifungal drug research during the past 10 years, there still exists difficulties in prompt diagnosis and the complexity of the clinical characteristics makes the management of invasive fungal infections a great challenge. Fungal infections affect millions of people throughout the world and can be classified into three groups namely superficial, subcutaneous, and systemic mycoses. Superficial infections are mainly confined to mucous membrane, skin nails and hair. The most common fungal infections of the skin are dermatophytoses, pityriasis versicolor, and candidiasis. Approximately 90% of fungal infections are caused …show more content…

Stratum corneum 2. Stratum lucidum 3. Stratum granulosum 4. Stratum spinosum 5. Stratum basale Stratum corneum Stratum corneum also called as horny layer is the outer most layer and it mainly consists of dead cells called corneocytes. These corneocytes under pressure lose their nucleus and become dead cells. Due to keratin, a fibrous protein the cytoplasm is usually flattened in nature. These cells also contain phospholipids and glycogen as their components. Stratum Lucidum Stratum lucidum consists of flattened epithelial cells. Most of the cells have degenerated nucleus and in some the nucleus is completely absent. This layer is present only in the thick skin of areas such as the fingertips, palms and soles. It consist of four to six layers of flattened clear, dead keratinocytes that contains large amount of keratin and thickened plasma membrane. This provides an additional level of toughness in this region of thick skin. Stratum granulosum This is a thin layer which consists of two to five rows of flattened rhomboid cells. The keratohyaline granules are present in the cytoplasam and this protein is the precursor of keratin. Stratum

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