The Fine Structure of Diphtheroids of Erythrasma

Abstract

The causative organism of erythrasma has long been considered to be a fungus, variously named Microsporum minutissimum, Nocardia minutis-sima, Sporotrichum minutissimum, Microspo-roides minutissimus, Oospora minutissima, and Discomyces minutissimus. Renewed interest in the etiology of this long-recognized (1) chronic infection of the stratum corneum has been stimulated by the clinical finding that erythrasma, unlike dermatophyte infections, fails to respond to treatment with the antifungal agent, griseo-fulvin, but may be cured by erythromycin administered systemically (Fig. 1 and 2). That the disease might be of bacterial origin was first suggested by Lagana (2) who isolated a Corynebac-terium and a hemolytic Staphylococcus from scrapings of the skin of patients with erythrasma. More recently, Sarkany, Taplin and Blank (3, 4) reported culturing, from scales of afflicted patients, a diphtheroid which, when inoculated onto the skin of human volunteers, gave rise to clinical erythrasma. The organism has been described biochemically and has been named Corynebacterium minutissimum (5), the type strain of which has been accepted by the National Collection of Type Cultures, London, England.