Infection of bats with <i>Histoplasma</i> species

Gugnani, H. C.; Denning, David W.

doi:10.1093/mmy/myad080

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Bats, and birds to a certain extent, are considered to be key for the dispersion of Histoplasma [ 5 , 15 , 48 , 49 ]. Isolation of Histoplasma from over six different species of bats (guano or internal organs), belonging to different genera, suggests that bats are a natural host of the fungus across the Americas [ 50 , 51 , 52 ], Europe [ 53 ], Africa [ 54 ] and Asia [ 55 ]. Bats are a widely distributed and diverse group [ 56 ], posing the question of whether there has been host-fungus coevolution and subsequent specialization.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tracing histoplasmosis genomic epidemiology and species occurrence across the USA

Tenório,

Kollath,

Gade

et al. 2024

Emerging Microbes & Infections

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Histoplasmosis is an endemic mycosis in North America frequently reported along the Ohio and Mississippi River Valleys, although autochthonous cases occur in non-endemic areas. In the United States, the disease is provoked by two genetically distinct clades of Histoplasma capsulatum sensu lato , Histoplasma mississippiense (Nam1) and H. ohiense (Nam2). To bridge the molecular epidemiological gap, we genotyped 93 Histoplasma isolates (62 novel genomes) including clinical, environmental, and veterinarian samples from a broader geographical range by whole-genome sequencing, followed by evolutionary and species niche modelling analyses. We show that histoplasmosis is caused by two major lineages, H. ohiense and H. mississippiense ; with sporadic cases caused by H. suramericanum in California and Texas. While H. ohiense is prevalent in eastern states, H. mississipiense was found to be prevalent in the central and western portions of the United States, but also geographically overlapping in some areas suggesting that these species might co-occur. Species Niche Modelling revealed that H. ohiense thrives in places with warmer and drier conditions, while H. mississippiense is endemic to areas with cooler temperatures and more precipitation. In addition, we predicted multiple areas of secondary contact zones where the two species co-occur, potentially facilitating gene exchange and hybridization. This study provides the most comprehensive understanding of the genomic epidemiology of histoplasmosis in the USA and lays a blueprint for the study of invasive fungal diseases.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tracing histoplasmosis genomic epidemiology and species occurrence across the USA

Tenório,

Kollath,

Gade

et al. 2024

Emerging Microbes & Infections

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“…Histoplasma capsulatum is a dimorphic fungus whose saprophytic filamentous form is found in soils, especially those containing bird and bat feces, and whose parasitic yeast form is found in humans and animals [1,2]. Inhalation of conidia or mycelial fragments of H. capsulatum in contaminated environments is the primary mode of infection of both humans and animals, with these fungal elements readily carried through the air.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antifungal Activity of Chitosan against Histoplasma capsulatum in Planktonic and Biofilm Forms: A Therapeutic Strategy in the Future?

Brilhante,

Costa,

Mesquita

et al. 2023

JoF

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Histoplasmosis is a respiratory disease caused by Histoplasma capsulatum, a dimorphic fungus, with high mortality and morbidity rates, especially in immunocompromised patients. Considering the small existing therapeutic arsenal, new treatment approaches are still required. Chitosan, a linear polysaccharide obtained from partial chitin deacetylation, has anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, biocompatibility, biodegradability, and non-toxicity properties. Chitosan with different deacetylation degrees and molecular weights has been explored as a potential agent against fungal pathogens. In this study, the chitosan antifungal activity against H. capsulatum was evaluated using the broth microdilution assay, obtaining minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) ranging from 32 to 128 µg/mL in the filamentous phase and 8 to 64 µg/mL in the yeast phase. Chitosan combined with classical antifungal drugs showed a synergic effect, reducing chitosan’s MICs by 32 times, demonstrating that there were no antagonistic interactions relating to any of the strains tested. A synergism between chitosan and amphotericin B or itraconazole was detected in the yeast-like form for all strains tested. For H. capsulatum biofilms, chitosan reduced biomass and metabolic activity by about 40% at 512 µg/mL. In conclusion, studying chitosan as a therapeutic strategy against Histoplasma capsulatum is promising, mainly considering its numerous possible applications, including its combination with other compounds.

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“…Many sources focused on diseases of bats and their diagnostics, in particular histopathological. Changes were examined during dermatitides (Boone et al, 2021;De Souza Suguiura et al, 2023), diseases of parasitic etiology (Adhikari et al, 2020;Fernandes et al, 2022;Gugnani & Denning, 2023), viral infections (Irving et al, 2021;Kohl et al, 2021;Jones et al, 2023), including paramixovirus (Haas & Lee, 2023), rabies (Folly et al, 2021), and infections of other etiology (Fritze et al, 2019;Colunga-Salas et al, 2021). Mentions of E. serotinus are found only in general reviews of pathologies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peculiarities of histological structure of some organs of serotine bat (Eptesicus serotinus)

Serdioucov,

Filipets,

Shkundia

et al. 2023

Regul. Mech. Biosyst.

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Chiroptera is the only group of mammals that is able to fly. They are beneficial for people and ecosystem they live in. In Ukraine, all species of bats are rare or endangered, in particular serotine bat (Eptesicus serotinus Schreber, 1774). So as to prevent the extinction of currently existing species of bats, it is crucial to combat their diseases, in particular improve diagnostics, including postmortem diagnostics. At the macroscopic and microscopic levels, morphology of bats has still been studied poorly, especially such of bats that live in Ukraine. Besides, knowledge of the structure of various organs of bats at macroscopic and microscopic levels is necessary for effective pathoanatomic diagnostics of their diseases. We researched the normal histological structure of some organs of E. serotinus. For this purpose, we used four corpses of this animal, which had previously died as a result of their disturbance during winter hibernation. We carried out a histological study, for which we sampled organs such as the liver, kidneys, lungs, heart, subcutaneous gland, and spleen. From the samples, we prepared histological sections and stained them with hematoxylin eosin. We described the general patterns of microscopic structure of the said organs of serotine bat. We found that microscopic structure of all the examined organs was similar to that of mammals in general. At the same time, we did observe some peculiarities of the histological structure of the studied organs, especially lungs, compared with such of other mammals, particularly: poor degree of development of the stroma, compact arrangement of parenchyma elements in the parenchyma-structure organs, large variability of sizes of alveolar lumens in the lungs. We assume that those peculiarities had emerged because of bats’ adaptation for flight. We believe that it is promising to continue research of microscopic structure of various organs of E. serotinus, as well as other bats living in Ukraine and around the globe.

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Infection of bats with Histoplasma species

Cited by 6 publications

References 62 publications

Tracing histoplasmosis genomic epidemiology and species occurrence across the USA

Tracing histoplasmosis genomic epidemiology and species occurrence across the USA

Antifungal Activity of Chitosan against Histoplasma capsulatum in Planktonic and Biofilm Forms: A Therapeutic Strategy in the Future?

Peculiarities of histological structure of some organs of serotine bat (Eptesicus serotinus)

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