title: Combination therapeutic approaches for the management of invasive aspergillosis in organ transplant recipients.
abstract: Outcomes in organ transplant recipients with invasive aspergillosis remain sufficiently dismal that combination antifungal approaches present an attractive therapeutic option. The efficacy of such approaches has not been incontrovertibly documented. However, limited data suggest that combination antifungal therapy may be considered in subsets of high-risk patients e.g. those renal and replacement therapy in whom mortality rates have typically exceeded 90%. Synergistic interactions of antifungal agents with the immunosuppressants suggest a role for devising antifungal strategies that target novel signalling pathways. Finally, manipulating known predisposing immunological defects with immunotherapeutic agents is a potentially promising approach for the management of these challenging opportunistic mycoses.
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases Section, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15240, USA. nis5@pitt.edu
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Kenneth J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Pursell
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001228:Aspergillosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000401:mortality; D001230:Aspergillus / Q000187:drug effects; D016207:Cytokines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy; D016377:Organ Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000401:mortality; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D016207:Cytokines