High prevalence of Pneumocystis jirovecii colonization in Brazilian cystic fibrosis patients.
A high rate of Pneumocystis jirovecii colonization was observed in Brazilian cystic fibrosis (CF) patients (13 out of 34; 38.2%) who underwent bronchoscopy between March 2006 and August 2009 at the Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre, Brazil. Bronchoalveolar lavage samples were collected from these patients and studied by nested PCR amplification of the mitochondrial gene coding for the large subunit ribosomal RNA (mtLSUrDNA). The observed rate of colonization was higher than that reported in European populations. Genotypic characterization of the mtLSUrDNA locus revealed a predominance of the polymorphisms 85C/248C (genotype 1) and 85T/248C (genotype 3), with all samples possessing the wild-type genotype of dihydropteroate synthase. These findings suggest that cystic fibrosis patients could be an important reservoir and source of P. jirovecii infection. Further studies are required to elucidate the role of this common fungal colonization in the evolution of CF patients.
Grupo de Estudos em Pneumocystis, Serviço de Infectologia, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Marco A
MA
Pederiva
Gustavo
G
Wissmann
Vicente
V
Friaza
Rubem
R
Morilla
Carmen
C
de La Horra
Marco A
MA
Montes-Cano
Luciano Z
LZ
Goldani
Enrique J
EJ
Calderón
João C
JC
Prolla
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003550:Cystic Fibrosis / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D020459:Genes, rRNA; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D045363:Pneumocystis carinii / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D011020:Pneumonia, Pneumocystis / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D055815:Young Adult
D004271:DNA, Fungal; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal