Molecular epidemiology of Cryptococcus neoformans/C. gattii complexes in Lima, Perú

ROJAS F; GUEVARA GRANADOS JM; HERNANDEZ L; BEJAR V; SOSA MA; GIUSIANO G

Salvador de Bahía

Congreso; 17th Infocus and 1st ISHAM Latin American Congress; 2019

The aim of this work was to genotype clinical isolates of Cryptococcus neoformans / Cryptococcus gattii complexes deposited in the culture collection of the Instituto de Medicina Tropical Daniel A. Carrión, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (Lima, Perú).A total of 45 C. neoformans sensu lato isolates, previously identified by conversional phenotypic methods, were included in this study. All isolates were obtained from immunocompromised HIV-positive patients.All the isolates were genotyped by URA5 gene PCR-RFLP method (Meyer et al., 2003) at Instituto de Medicina Regional, Universidad Nacional del Nordeste (Resistencia, Argentina). Fourthy (88.9%) isolates were identified as C. neoformans VNI, 2 (4.4%) isolates were identified as C. neoformans VNII, 3 (6.7%) as C. neoformans VNIII (Cryptococcus neoformans × Cryptococcus deneoformans hybrid). The present study was performed in order to investigate the epidemiology of C. neoformans in a retrospective cohort of patients from Lima, Peru. In concordance with other authors, a high frequency of C. neoformans VNI genotype was observed. This genotype is considered the main agent of cryptococcosis and the most prevalent in the environment worldwide within C. neoformans complex including all South American epidemiological studies. It is important to highlight the 6.7% of C. neoformans VIII detected in this study. In a previous study performed by our group the intervariety hybrid Cryptococcus neoformans × Cryptococcus deneoformans (VNIII) was detected in only 1% but was an environmental strain came from pigeon droppings and not founded within clinical isolates. VNIII and VNIV were usually reported mainly in southern Europe, nevertheless a change in their geographic distribution with an increase in their prevalence in Latin America was reported. This work is a contribution for the better knowledge of the Cryptococcus molecular epidemiology in Perú.