How histopathology can contribute to an understanding of defense mechanisms against cryptococci.
Invasive fungal infections, particularly those considered opportunistic, have become a common and significant complication of procedures performed in advanced contemporary medicine. Among such infections, cryptococcosis, which is usually caused by infection with Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii, is particularly problematic because this fungal infection occurs in immunocompromised and apparently immunocompetent individuals. It has been largely accepted that Cryptococcus species are recognized by cellular receptors and that Th1-type immune responses play an important role in defense mechanisms against the yeast. However, the interaction between the yeast and host tissue varies depending on the characteristics of the yeast and the immune status of the host. To gain a better understanding of the pathophysiology of cryptococcosis, we wish to emphasize the usefulness of histopathological examinations, because it allowed more detailed information of an extremely complex interaction between the causative yeasts and tissue response. In the present review, we describe the pathophysiology of cryptococcosis as largely revealed in our previous histopathological investigations of the experimental infection.
Department of Surgical Pathology, Toho University School of Medicine, 6-11-1 Omori-Nishi, Ota-Ku, Tokyo 143-8541, Japan.
Yoichiro
Y
Okubo
Naobumi
N
Tochigi
Megumi
M
Wakayama
Minoru
M
Shinozaki
Haruo
H
Nakayama
Takao
T
Ishiwatari
Kayoko
K
Shimodaira
Tetsuo
T
Nemoto
Hideaki
H
Ohno
Yukihiro
Y
Kaneko
Koichi
K
Makimura
Katsuhisa
K
Uchida
Yoshitsugu
Y
Miyazaki
Hideyo
H
Yamaguchi
Kazutoshi
K
Shibuya
D056704:Adaptive Immunity; D000818:Animals; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D003453:Cryptococcosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003454:Cryptococcus / Q000276:immunology*; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008168:Lung / Q000382:microbiology; D008264:Macrophages / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology