| Congresso Brasileiro de Microbiologia 2023 | Resumo: 126-2 | ||||
Resumo:Invasive fungal infections, especially those originating in the respiratory system, represent a growing challenge in global public health, considering a high associated mortality rate. The scenario is aggravated by the emergence of resistance to antifungal agents, and by limited access to early diagnosis and assertive treatment. The World Health Organization (WHO) highlighted the critically important fungal pathogens, with emphasis on Candida auris, Aspergillus fumigatus and Cryptococcus neoformans, and reinforced strategies to strengthen a global response, including expansion of diagnostic tools, and investigation of new resistance maneuvers. Studies of the human respiratory tract microbiome have demonstrated the important role that the microbial community plays in regulating the immune response, both innate and adaptive, to prevent tissue invasion by pathogens. The microbiota of the normal respiratory tract restricts the development of other potentially pathogenic microorganisms by different mechanisms, such as limiting nutrients and secreting inhibitory compounds. The microbiota of a healthy lung is characterized by low density of microorganisms, but high diversity. On the other hand, the pulmonary microbiota in the context of some diseases is characterized by low diversity of microorganisms and high density. During advances in microbiome characterization, fungal communities have received little attention compared to bacterial communities, and bacterial-fungal interactions have important effects on human health. Co-infection cases in humans have already been described between C. neoformans, Klebisiella pneumoniae and Streptococcus pneumoniae. In some of these cases, the standard therapeutic approach to treating cryptococcosis was less effective and the sites of infection were different from those expected in the pathogenesis of cryptococcosis, highlighting the importance of microbiome studies to understand how polymicrobial interactions impact disease progression and antimicrobial treatment. The aim of this study is to characterize the microbiome of the lungs of patients with fungal infections of different etiologies. Until now, we received 26 samples of bronchoalveolar lavage, bronchial aspirate, and/or spectorated sputum from patients with positive diagnosis for fungal infection from the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA). Among them, 54% are female and 46% male, aged between 18 and 30 years old (26.92%) and over 51 years old (53.84%). The most prevalent fungal pathogens were A. fumigatus (23,5%), Aspergillus flavus (14,7%), and Candida albicans (11,8%). Six patients were infected with more than one fungal pathogen at the same time, while 15 were coinfected with other bacterial or viral pathogens. Total DNA extraction is ongoing for metagenomic analysis through shotgun sequencing at Instituto de Pesquisa do Câncer (IPEC, Guarapuava, PR, Brasil). Palavras-chave: Microbiome, Fungal infection, Polymicrobial interaction Agência de fomento:Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul (FAPERGS) | |||||