Immune defence to invasive fungal infections: A comprehensive review. 2020

Balaji Pathakumari, and Guanzhao Liang, and Weida Liu
Department of Medical Mycology, Institute of Dermatology, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Nanjing, 210042, People's Republic of China.

The fungal infections are relatively common in humans that can range from common, mild superficial infections to life-threatening invasive infections. Most of the pathogenic fungi are opportunistic that cause disease under immunocompromised conditions such as HIV infection, cancer, chemotherapy, transplantation and immune suppressive drug users. Efficient detection and treatment of high-risk population remain the highest priority to avert most of the deaths. Majority of invasive infections are caused by Candida, Aspergillus and Cryptococcus species. Lack of effective vaccines, standardised diagnostic tools, efficient antifungal drugs and the emergence of drug-resistant species/strains pose a global threat to control Invasive fungal infections (IFI). A better understanding of the host immune response is one of the major approaches to developing new or improved antifungal strategies to control the IFIs. In this review, we have discussed pathogenesis of medically important fungi, fungal interaction with the host through pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) and the interplay of innate and adaptive immune cells in shaping host immunity to IFI. Further, we emphasized the role of memory cells by offering long-term protection in secondary or subsequent infections. Moreover, we depicted the role of unconventional innate-like immune cells in anti-fungal immunity. We also summarize the available information on the current vaccine strategies, genetic susceptibility to fungal infections, recent co-infections studies and the emergence of drug-resistance, a growing trend throughout the world. Finally, we emphasized the steps to be taken for the control of IFIs.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007109 Immunity Nonsusceptibility to the invasive or pathogenic effects of foreign microorganisms or to the toxic effect of antigenic substances. Immune Process,Immune Response,Immune Processes,Immune Responses,Process, Immune,Response, Immune
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000072742 Invasive Fungal Infections Mycoses which manifest as infections of deep tissue or blood. Disseminated Fungal Infection,Invasive Mycoses,Disseminated Fungal Infections,Fungal Infection, Disseminated,Fungal Infection, Invasive,Infection, Disseminated Fungal,Infection, Invasive Fungal,Invasive Fungal Infection,Mycoses, Invasive
D000818 Animals Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA. Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D000935 Antifungal Agents Substances that destroy fungi by suppressing their ability to grow or reproduce. They differ from FUNGICIDES, INDUSTRIAL because they defend against fungi present in human or animal tissues. Anti-Fungal Agents,Antifungal Agent,Fungicides, Therapeutic,Antibiotics, Antifungal,Therapeutic Fungicides,Agent, Antifungal,Anti Fungal Agents,Antifungal Antibiotics
D014612 Vaccines Suspensions of killed or attenuated microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa), antigenic proteins, synthetic constructs, or other bio-molecular derivatives, administered for the prevention, amelioration, or treatment of infectious and other diseases. Vaccine
D020022 Genetic Predisposition to Disease A latent susceptibility to disease at the genetic level, which may be activated under certain conditions. Genetic Predisposition,Genetic Susceptibility,Predisposition, Genetic,Susceptibility, Genetic,Genetic Predispositions,Genetic Susceptibilities,Predispositions, Genetic,Susceptibilities, Genetic

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