Role of western blot assay for the diagnosis of histoplasmosis in AIDS patients from a National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract

Summary Background Histoplasmosis is a frequent fungal infection in HIV/AIDS patients, with high morbimortality rates when diagnosis and treatment are delayed. Antibody detection, which is faster than the gold standard culture test, hastens the laboratory investigation. Objectives To evaluate the role of WB for antibody detection in the diagnosis of histoplasmosis among HIV/AIDS patients. Patients and Methods Fifty patients with proven or probable histoplasmosis were included. Clinical, epidemiological and laboratory data were described in the same population after a review of their medical records. WB was performed using deglycosylated histoplasmin. Results About 82% of patients were adult males and the mean age was 39.3 years. CD4+ T lymphocyte count less than 150 cells/mm3 was observed in 62% patients. Antibodies against Histoplasma capsulatum M antigen were detected in 62% of patients, and against both M and H antigens in 28% of individuals. Sera from 10% of patients were nonreactive. Histoplasmosis was the first opportunistic infection in 38% of the cases. Disseminated and pulmonary histoplasmosis occurred in 84% and 16% of patients, respectively. The overall mortality was 16%. Conclusion WB could be useful for the histoplasmosis diagnosis in HIV/AIDS patients because of its easefulness and good sensitivity in a population where antibody production is hampered.

<p>HIV-Associated Histoplasmosis: Current Perspectives</p>

“…Methods include complement fixation (CF), 78 immunodiffusion (ID), 78 and MVista ® IgG, IgM EIA 66,79 and Western blot. 80 Among cases in patients with AIDS identified during the Indianapolis outbreaks, ID was positive in 58.3% (21 of 36) and CF in 70.6% (24 of 34). 48 More recent studies reported that ID or CF was positive in 69.2% of cases (9 of 13) in AIDS patients.…”

Aspectos clínicos e laboratoriais da histoplasmose: uma revisão bibliográfica

“…A Histoplasmose pulmonar aguda, pode ainda causar danos dermatológicos, acometendo também as articulações e os músculos dos indivíduos infectados em cerca de 5% dos casos, resultando em artrite e mialgia. Além disso, esta forma clínica da micose pode manifestar lesões cutâneas, como o eritema nodoso ou multiforme (Figura 2) (Almeida et al, 2019). Research, Society and Development, v. 9, n. 7, e476974353, 2020 (CC BY 4.0) | ISSN 2525-3409 | DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v9i7.4353 Devido a sintomatologia ser semelhante à da tuberculose, a Histoplasmose pulmonar, na maioria das vezes, é diagnosticada e tratada como a mesma, dificultando o tratamento da micose, que diante de uma negligência prolongada no tratamento, a infecção pode evoluir para insuficiência respiratória, e por vezes ao óbito (Ribeiro, 2012).…”

Immunoproteomics Reveals Pathogen’s Antigens Involved in Homo sapiens–Histoplasma capsulatum Interaction and Specific Linear B-Cell Epitopes in Histoplasmosis

“…Also, monoclonal antibodies against heat shock protein 60 (HSP60) can alter the fate of the fungus within phagocytic cells and change host cytokine production profiles (Guimarães et al, 2009), as well as modify qualitatively and quantitatively the gene expression and contents of extracellular vesicles secreted by yeast cells of the fungus, impacting on the effector functions of bone-marrow derived macrophages (Baltazar et al, 2018;Burnet et al, 2020). Moreover, antibodies against the M and H antigens, a catalase B and beta-glucosidase, respectively, are consistently produced by patients with different clinical forms of histoplasmosis and, therefore, are largely applied in serodiagnostic tests (Pizzini et al, 1999;Guimarães et al, 2004;Almeida et al, 2016;Almeida et al, 2019).…”