PubMed · 1501388
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M Ohkawa. 1992. [Urinary candidiasis].. https://doi.org/10.5980/jpnjurol.83.812
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Prognosis of visceral mycosis depends on an early and well-adapted treatment. So, diagnosis must be done as early as possible. The clinician must first think of mycosis in front of a fever resistant to antibiotics or an unusual symptomatology, particularly in patients at risk for this opportunistic infection. The laboratory role is then essential. Isolation of the responsible fungus must be the first step. It leads to confirmation of diagnosis and to the choice of the best antifungal treatment. The search of antibodies and, in immunocompromised patients, of circulating antigens, is of precious help when no fungus is isolated or to confirm its pathogenicity. Unfortunately, diagnosis is often difficult. New molecular biological techniques should improve the quality and delay of mycological diagnosis.
Three monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) produced against proteins from the tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) fungal endophyte Neotyphodium coenophialum hybridize exclusively to a fungal protein under denaturing conditions. The protein is approximately 88 kDa in size. These mAbs were individually incorporated into liquid medium to determine their effects on fungal growth in culture. Neotyphodium-specific mAbs inhibited fungal growth for the duration of the study. Fungal cultures grown in the presence of Neotyphodium-naive mAbs or in the absence of all mAbs grew unimpeded. Bright-field microscopy and immunohistochemical studies of cultures containing Neotyphodium-specific mAbs revealed a change in mycelia morphology with clumps exhibiting a gelatinous matrix containing sparse hyphae, while cultures receiving Neotyphodium-naive mAbs in medium demonstrated unrestricted growth with overlapping and branched hyphae. In liquid culture devoid of fungal isolates, mAbs were stable and detected throughout the experiment, but were below threshold detection levels within 15 min following inclusion in liquid cultures containing Neotyphodium spp., indicating rapid binding to fungal mycelia. Monoclonal antibodies may provide a new method to help control plant pathogenic fungi where chemical or genetic means are not feasible.
Vaccination is a rational alternative to treatment for Cryptococcus neoformans infections, as these infections are currently intractable in immunocompromised (including HIV-infected) individuals. Vaccines composed of the cryptococcal capsular polysaccharide glucuronoxylomannan (GXM), the key C. neoformans virulence factor, elicit protective antibodies in mice, although deleterious antibodies can also be induced. By contrast, polysaccharides are poor immunogens in HIV-infected humans and others with B-cell defects. Peptide mimotopes of GXM can induce protective immunity to C. neoformans in mice, however, our knowledge of the mechanisms of mimotope-induced protection is incomplete and further work is needed if polysaccharide- or mimotope-based vaccines are to be used to manage C. neoformans infection.