<i>Kytococcus</i> Species Infections in Humans—A Narrative Review
<i>Kytococcus</i> belongs to the family Kytococcaceae, in the order Micrococcales, in the class Actinomycetes, and the phylum Actinomycetota. <i>Kytococcus</i> are aerobic, Gram-positive, non-spore forming bacteria that form coccoid, non-motile, non-encapsulated cells, and th...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-05-01
|
| Series: | Microorganisms |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/13/5/1072 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850256146317705216 |
|---|---|
| author | Petros Ioannou Eleni Kampanieri Stergos Koukias Stella Baliou Andreas G. Tsantes Diamantis Kofteridis |
| author_facet | Petros Ioannou Eleni Kampanieri Stergos Koukias Stella Baliou Andreas G. Tsantes Diamantis Kofteridis |
| author_sort | Petros Ioannou |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <i>Kytococcus</i> belongs to the family Kytococcaceae, in the order Micrococcales, in the class Actinomycetes, and the phylum Actinomycetota. <i>Kytococcus</i> are aerobic, Gram-positive, non-spore forming bacteria that form coccoid, non-motile, non-encapsulated cells, and their colonies on agar have a yellow color. Infections by these species are increasingly identified nowadays. This narrative review aimed to present all available cases of <i>Kytococcus</i> spp. infections in humans, emphasizing data on the epidemiology, antimicrobial resistance, antimicrobial treatment, and mortality. A narrative review based on a literature search of the PubMed/MedLine and Scopus databases was performed. Results: In total, 26 articles providing data on 30 patients with <i>Kytococcus</i> spp. infections were included in this analysis. The median age was 59.5 years, while 56.7% were male. The presence of a prosthetic cardiac valve was the main predisposing factor in 36.7% of patients (100% among those with infective endocarditis), while immunosuppression due to underlying hematological malignancy under chemotherapy was the second most common. Bacteremia was the most common type of infection, with infective endocarditis being the most common subtype in this infection type, while respiratory tract infections and osteoarticular infections were also relatively common. <i>K. schroeteri</i> was the most commonly identified species. Microbial identification required the use of advanced molecular techniques such as 16s rRNA sequencing in most cases. <i>Kytotoccus</i> spp. was resistant to all beta-lactams with the exception of carbapenems and macrolides. The most commonly used antimicrobials were vancomycin and rifampicin. Mortality was significant (30%). Due to the potential of <i>Kytotoccus</i> spp. to cause infective endocarditis in patients with prosthetic cardiac valves and respiratory tract infections with concomitant bacteremia in patients with hematological malignancy under chemotherapy along with the difficulties in pathogen identification, clinicians and laboratory personnel should consider this pathogen in the differential diagnosis in patients with typical predisposing factors and clinical presentation, especially when traditional microbiological techniques are used for pathogen identification. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b8342736a8454f27a98ebe03f41339df |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2076-2607 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Microorganisms |
| spelling | doaj-art-b8342736a8454f27a98ebe03f41339df2025-08-20T01:56:42ZengMDPI AGMicroorganisms2076-26072025-05-01135107210.3390/microorganisms13051072<i>Kytococcus</i> Species Infections in Humans—A Narrative ReviewPetros Ioannou0Eleni Kampanieri1Stergos Koukias2Stella Baliou3Andreas G. Tsantes4Diamantis Kofteridis5School of Medicine, University of Crete, 71003 Heraklion, GreeceInternal Medicine Department, General Hospital of Chania, 73300 Chania, GreeceInternal Medicine Department, Venizeleio General Hospital, 71409 Heraklion, GreeceSchool of Medicine, University of Crete, 71003 Heraklion, GreeceLaboratory of Hematology and Blood Bank Unit, “Attikon” University Hospital, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 12462 Athens, GreeceSchool of Medicine, University of Crete, 71003 Heraklion, Greece<i>Kytococcus</i> belongs to the family Kytococcaceae, in the order Micrococcales, in the class Actinomycetes, and the phylum Actinomycetota. <i>Kytococcus</i> are aerobic, Gram-positive, non-spore forming bacteria that form coccoid, non-motile, non-encapsulated cells, and their colonies on agar have a yellow color. Infections by these species are increasingly identified nowadays. This narrative review aimed to present all available cases of <i>Kytococcus</i> spp. infections in humans, emphasizing data on the epidemiology, antimicrobial resistance, antimicrobial treatment, and mortality. A narrative review based on a literature search of the PubMed/MedLine and Scopus databases was performed. Results: In total, 26 articles providing data on 30 patients with <i>Kytococcus</i> spp. infections were included in this analysis. The median age was 59.5 years, while 56.7% were male. The presence of a prosthetic cardiac valve was the main predisposing factor in 36.7% of patients (100% among those with infective endocarditis), while immunosuppression due to underlying hematological malignancy under chemotherapy was the second most common. Bacteremia was the most common type of infection, with infective endocarditis being the most common subtype in this infection type, while respiratory tract infections and osteoarticular infections were also relatively common. <i>K. schroeteri</i> was the most commonly identified species. Microbial identification required the use of advanced molecular techniques such as 16s rRNA sequencing in most cases. <i>Kytotoccus</i> spp. was resistant to all beta-lactams with the exception of carbapenems and macrolides. The most commonly used antimicrobials were vancomycin and rifampicin. Mortality was significant (30%). Due to the potential of <i>Kytotoccus</i> spp. to cause infective endocarditis in patients with prosthetic cardiac valves and respiratory tract infections with concomitant bacteremia in patients with hematological malignancy under chemotherapy along with the difficulties in pathogen identification, clinicians and laboratory personnel should consider this pathogen in the differential diagnosis in patients with typical predisposing factors and clinical presentation, especially when traditional microbiological techniques are used for pathogen identification.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/13/5/1072<i>Kytococcus</i>bacteremiainfectioninfective endocarditisrespiratory tract infectionosteomyelitis |
| spellingShingle | Petros Ioannou Eleni Kampanieri Stergos Koukias Stella Baliou Andreas G. Tsantes Diamantis Kofteridis <i>Kytococcus</i> Species Infections in Humans—A Narrative Review Microorganisms <i>Kytococcus</i> bacteremia infection infective endocarditis respiratory tract infection osteomyelitis |
| title | <i>Kytococcus</i> Species Infections in Humans—A Narrative Review |
| title_full | <i>Kytococcus</i> Species Infections in Humans—A Narrative Review |
| title_fullStr | <i>Kytococcus</i> Species Infections in Humans—A Narrative Review |
| title_full_unstemmed | <i>Kytococcus</i> Species Infections in Humans—A Narrative Review |
| title_short | <i>Kytococcus</i> Species Infections in Humans—A Narrative Review |
| title_sort | i kytococcus i species infections in humans a narrative review |
| topic | <i>Kytococcus</i> bacteremia infection infective endocarditis respiratory tract infection osteomyelitis |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/13/5/1072 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT petrosioannou ikytococcusispeciesinfectionsinhumansanarrativereview AT elenikampanieri ikytococcusispeciesinfectionsinhumansanarrativereview AT stergoskoukias ikytococcusispeciesinfectionsinhumansanarrativereview AT stellabaliou ikytococcusispeciesinfectionsinhumansanarrativereview AT andreasgtsantes ikytococcusispeciesinfectionsinhumansanarrativereview AT diamantiskofteridis ikytococcusispeciesinfectionsinhumansanarrativereview |