Abstract
A 32-year-old Japanese man with eruption on the upper and lower lips as the result of T. rubrum infection, had an accompanying superficial tinea of the face and extremities. Intradermal trichophytin tests provoked strongly positive immediate and delayed reactions. Laboratory studies showed a leucocytosis with eosinophilia, an IgE level as high as 1,500U/ml and a strongly positive Mantoux reaction. The oral 50g glucose tolerance test revealed an oxyhyperglycemia. The serum zinc level was only 56μg/dl, and a normal value (131μg/dl) was reverted to after oral administration of zinc sulfate 200mg/day. The eruption disappeared four weeks later following treatment with griseofulvin and zinc sulfate. We consider that this patient was susceptible to infection of sycosis trichophytica as there was a zinc deficiency.
