INVESTIGADORES
CUESTAS Maria Lujan
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Molecular overview on the epidemiology of Aspergillus and other moulds colonizing the upper respiratory tract of cystic fibrosis patients of, Argentina
Autor/es:
BRITO DEVOTO T; HERMIDA ALAVA KS; POLA SJ; PEREDA R; RUBEGLIO E; FINQUELIEVICH JL; CUESTAS ML
Reunión:
Congreso; 17TH INFOCUS; 2019
Resumen:
Objectives: Patients with cystic Fibrosis (CF) suffer from recurrent airway colonization by bacteria and fungi that may lead to chronic airway inflammation and respiratory failure. Progressive obstructive lung disease causes over 90% of deaths in patients with CF (1). Although the role in pathogenesis of moulds like Aspergillus spp., is not clearly elucidated, their presence is associated with loss of respiratory function and allergic disease (3). Moreover, the knowledge on the prevalence of these microorganisms in CF patients in Latin America is scarce. Thus, the aim of this study was to provide an insight onto the diversity and molecular epidemiology of fungal species in CF patients from Argentina.Methods: 176 mould isolates were recovered from sputum samples of 50 CF patients. Isolates were firstly identified by morphology and molecular identification was achieved by partial DNA sequencing of their ITS, β-tubulin (Bt2) and/or calmodulin (CMD) genes. Results: 90% of CF patients were colonized by Aspergillus spp., followed by Exophiala spp. (14%) and Scedosporium spp. (10%). Among Aspergillus, six species complexes (Fumigati, Flavi, Terrei, Nigri, Usti and Nidulante) and different cryptospecies were found. Among Scedosporium, three species were observed (Scedosporium apiospermum, Scedosporium aurantiacum and Scedosporium boydii). All Exophiala isolates were identified as Exophiala dermatitidis. Rare filamentous fungi were also found. All cases of ABPA were associated to the presence of A. fumigatus. Mixed colonization with other mold or rare fungi was observed in half of them.Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first prospective study of mold species in CF using molecular methods in Latin America. This study shows that Aspergillus spp., E. dermatitidis and Scedosporium spp. have a high frequency in CF patients from Argentina, and by far, A. fumigatus was the most commonly cultured species. Continuous clinical surveillance is required to detect the emergence of new fungal pathogens and to detect resistant or difficult-to-treat species capable of chronic colonizing the airways and of hematogenous dissemination in case of lung transplantation