Detection of Cytokines and Collectins in Bronchoalveolar Fluid Samples of Patients Infected with <i>Histoplasma capsulatum</i> and <i>Pneumocystis jirovecii</i>
Histoplasmosis and pneumocystosis co-infections have been reported mainly in immunocompromised humans and in wild animals. The immunological response to each fungal infection has been described primarily using animal models; however, the host response to concomitant infection is unknown. The present...
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| Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
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| Formato: | article |
| Lenguaje: | EN |
| Publicado: |
MDPI AG
2021
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://doaj.org/article/c4d3e565eb0c4bc0904b01cabe1a1104 |
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| Sumario: | Histoplasmosis and pneumocystosis co-infections have been reported mainly in immunocompromised humans and in wild animals. The immunological response to each fungal infection has been described primarily using animal models; however, the host response to concomitant infection is unknown. The present work aimed to evaluate the pulmonary immunological response of patients with pneumonia caused either by <i>Histoplasma capsulatum</i>, <i>Pneumocystis jirovecii</i>, or their co-infection. We analyzed the pulmonary collectin and cytokine patterns of 131 bronchoalveolar lavage samples, which included HIV and non-HIV patients infected with <i>H. capsulatum</i>, <i>P. jirovecii</i>, or both fungi, as well as healthy volunteers and HIV patients without the studied fungal infections. Our results showed an increased production of the surfactant protein-A (SP-A) in non-HIV patients with <i>H. capsulatum</i> infection, contrasting with HIV patients (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Significant differences in median values of SP-A, IL-1β, TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-18, IL-17A, IL-33, IL-13, and CXCL8 were found among all the groups studied, suggesting that these cytokines play a role in the local inflammatory processes of histoplasmosis and pneumocystosis. Interestingly, non-HIV patients with co-infection and pneumocystosis alone showed lower levels of SP-A, IL-1β, TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-18, IL-17A, and IL-23 than histoplasmosis patients, suggesting an immunomodulatory ability of <i>P. jirovecii</i> over <i>H. capsulatum</i> response. |
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