Biomaterial Database

Pneumocystis jirovecii Colonization in Mexican Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. 2023

Marcela Plascencia-Cruz, and Arturo Plascencia-Hernández, and Yaxsier De Armas-Rodríguez, and Gabino Cervantes-Guevara, and Guillermo Alonso Cervantes-Cardona, and Sol Ramírez-Ochoa, and Alejandro González-Ojeda, and Clotilde Fuentes-Orozco, and Francisco Javier Hernández-Mora, and Carlos Miguel González-Valencia, and Andrea Pérez de Acha-Chávez, and Enrique Cervantes-Pérez

Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Civil de Guadalajara "Fray Antonio Alcalde", Guadalajara 44280, Jalisco, Mexico.

The prevalence of colonization by Pneumocystis jirovecii (P. jirovecii) has not been studied in Mexico. We aimed to determine the prevalence of colonization by P. jirovecii using molecular detection in a population of Mexican patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and describe their clinical and sociodemographic profiles. We enrolled patients discharged from our hospital diagnosed with COPD and without pneumonia (n = 15). The primary outcome of this study was P. jirovecii colonization at the time of discharge, as detected by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of oropharyngeal wash samples. The calculated prevalence of colonization for our study group was 26.66%. There were no statistically significant differences between COPD patients with and without colonization in our groups. Colonization of P. jirovecii in patients with COPD is frequent in the Mexican population; the clinical significance, if any, remains to be determined. Oropharyngeal wash and nested PCR are excellent cost-effective options to simplify sample collection and detection in developing countries and can be used for further studies.