ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Med.
Sec. Dermatology
Primary cutaneous nocardiosis caused by Nocardia brasiliensis: isolation, susceptibility, and molecular identification in eight consecutive cases from a tertiary hospital
Yijin Zhang
Ze-Hu Liu
Xiujiao Xia
Third People's Hospital of Hangzhou, Hangzhou, China
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Abstract
Nocardiosis is caused by Gram-positive aerobic bacteria of the genus Nocardia, which are soil-dwelling saprophytes. Infection may also occur via direct inoculation, leading to primary infections of the skin and subcutaneous tissues that often manifest as localized nodular lesions. Diagnostic identification can be challenging or even unfeasible using conventional laboratory techniques, particularly when Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) is not available. We conducted a retrospective analysis of eight cases of primary cutaneous nocardiosis diagnosed in the dermatology department of our hospital between 2022 and 2025, aiming to provide diagnostic insights with regard to culture, staining, mass spectrometry, 16S rRNA sequencing, and drug susceptibility testing, as well as to delineate the epidemiological characteristics of this condition.
Summary
Keywords
diagnosis, Epidemiology, Infection, Nocardia brasiliensis, Skin and subcutaneous tissue
Received
04 February 2026
Accepted
19 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Zhang, Liu and Xia. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Xiujiao Xia
Disclaimer
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