TY - JOUR
T1 - Parasitic polymorphism of Coccidioides spp
AU - Muñoz-Hernández, Bertha
AU - Palma-Cortés, Gabriel
AU - Cabello-Gutiérrez, Carlos
AU - Martínez-Rivera, María A.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors acknowledge the financial support from CONACYT (SALUD-2011-1-161897). María Angeles Martínez-Rivera is a fellow of the EDI/IPN, COFAA/IPN, AÑO SABATICO/IPN and SNI/CONACyT-México programs. Carlos Cabello-Gutiérrez is a fellow of SNI/CONACyt-Mexico program.
PY - 2014/4/21
Y1 - 2014/4/21
N2 - Background:Coccidioides spp. is the ethiological agent of coccidioidomycosis, an infection that can be fatal. Its diagnosis is complicated, due to that it shares clinical and histopathological characteristics with other pulmonary mycoses. Coccidioides spp. is a dimorphic fungus and, in its saprobic phase, grows as a mycelium, forming a large amount of arthroconidia. In susceptible persons, arthroconidia induce dimorphic changes into spherules/endospores, a typical parasitic form of Coccidioides spp. In addition, the diversity of mycelial parasitic forms has been observed in clinical specimens; they are scarcely known and produce errors in diagnosis. Methods: We presented a retrospective study of images from specimens of smears with 15% potassium hydroxide, cytology, and tissue biopsies of a histopathologic collection from patients with coccidioidomycosis seen at a tertiary-care hospital in Mexico City. Results: The parasitic polymorphism of Coccidioides spp. observed in the clinical specimens was as follows: i) spherules/endospores in different maturation stages; ii) pleomorphic cells (septate hyphae, hyphae composed of ovoid and spherical cells, and arthroconidia), and iii) fungal ball formation (mycelia with septate hyphae and arthroconidia).Conclusions: The parasitic polymorphism of Coccidioides spp. includes the following: spherules/endospores, arthroconidia, and different forms of mycelia. This knowledge is important for the accurate diagnosis of coccidioidomycosis. In earlier studies, we proposed the integration of this diversity of forms in the Coccidioides spp. parasitic cycle. The microhabitat surrounding the fungus into the host would favor the parasitic polymorphism of this fungus, and this environment may assist in the evolution toward parasitism of Coccidioides spp.
AB - Background:Coccidioides spp. is the ethiological agent of coccidioidomycosis, an infection that can be fatal. Its diagnosis is complicated, due to that it shares clinical and histopathological characteristics with other pulmonary mycoses. Coccidioides spp. is a dimorphic fungus and, in its saprobic phase, grows as a mycelium, forming a large amount of arthroconidia. In susceptible persons, arthroconidia induce dimorphic changes into spherules/endospores, a typical parasitic form of Coccidioides spp. In addition, the diversity of mycelial parasitic forms has been observed in clinical specimens; they are scarcely known and produce errors in diagnosis. Methods: We presented a retrospective study of images from specimens of smears with 15% potassium hydroxide, cytology, and tissue biopsies of a histopathologic collection from patients with coccidioidomycosis seen at a tertiary-care hospital in Mexico City. Results: The parasitic polymorphism of Coccidioides spp. observed in the clinical specimens was as follows: i) spherules/endospores in different maturation stages; ii) pleomorphic cells (septate hyphae, hyphae composed of ovoid and spherical cells, and arthroconidia), and iii) fungal ball formation (mycelia with septate hyphae and arthroconidia).Conclusions: The parasitic polymorphism of Coccidioides spp. includes the following: spherules/endospores, arthroconidia, and different forms of mycelia. This knowledge is important for the accurate diagnosis of coccidioidomycosis. In earlier studies, we proposed the integration of this diversity of forms in the Coccidioides spp. parasitic cycle. The microhabitat surrounding the fungus into the host would favor the parasitic polymorphism of this fungus, and this environment may assist in the evolution toward parasitism of Coccidioides spp.
KW - Coccidioidomycosis
KW - Diagnosis of Coccidioides
KW - Parasitic mycelia forms of Coccidioides
KW - Parasitic polymorphism of Coccidioides
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84899994529&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/1471-2334-14-213
DO - 10.1186/1471-2334-14-213
M3 - Artículo
C2 - 24750998
SN - 1471-2334
VL - 14
JO - BMC Infectious Diseases
JF - BMC Infectious Diseases
IS - 1
M1 - 213
ER -