Fluconazole Non-susceptible Cryptococcus neoformans, Relapsing/Refractory Cryptococcosis and Long-term Use of Liposomal Amphotericin B in an AIDS Patient

Molecular characterization of clinical and environmental isolates from the Cryptococcus neoformans/C. Gattii species complexes of Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil

Cryptococcosis is one of the major life-threatening opportunistic/systemic fungal diseases of worldwide occurrence, which can be asymptomatic or establish pneumonia and meningoencephalitis mainly in immunosuppressed patients, caused by the Cryptococcus neoformans and C. gattii species complexes. Acquisition is by inhaling fungal propagules from avian droppings, tree hollows and decaying wood, and the association of the molecular types with geographic origin, virulence and antifungal resistance have epidemiological importance. Since data on cryptococcosis in Alagoas are limited, we sought to determine the molecular types of etiological agents collected from clinical and environmental sources. We evaluated 21 isolates previously collected from cerebrospinal fluid and from environment sources (pigeon droppings and tree hollows) in Maceió-Alagoas (Brazil). Restriction fragment length polymorphism of URA5 gene was performed to characterize among the eight standard molecular types (VNI-VNIV and VGI-VGIV). Among isolates, 66.67% (14) were assigned to C. neoformans VNI - 12 of them (12/14) recovered from liquor and 2 from a tree hollow (2/14). One isolate from pigeon droppings (4.76%) corresponded to C. neoformans VNIV, while five strains from tree hollows and one from pigeon droppings (6, 28.57%) to C. gattii VGII. VNI-type was present in clinical and environmental samples and most C. neoformans infections were observed in HIV-positive patients, while types VNIV and VGII were prevalent in environmental sources in Alagoas. This is the first molecular characterization of Cryptococcus spp. in Alagoas, our study provides additional information on the ecoepidemiology of Cryptococcus spp. in Brazil, contributing to a closer view of the endemic species.

Cryptococcus spp. and Cryptococcosis: focusing on the infection in Brazil

Cryptococcosis is a global fungal infection caused by the Cryptococcus neoformans/Cryptococcus gattii yeast complex. This infection is acquired by inhalation of propagules such as basidiospores or dry yeast, initially causing lung infections with the possibility of progressing to the meninges. This infection mainly affects immunocompromised HIV and transplant patients; however, immunocompetent patients can also be affected. This review proposes to evaluate cryptococcosis focusing on studies of this mycosis in Brazilian territory; moreover, recent advances in the understanding of its virulence mechanism, animal models in research are also assessed. For this, literature review as realized in PubMed, Scielo, and Brazilian legislation. In Brazil, cryptococcosis has been identified as one of the most lethal fungal infections among HIV patients and C. neoformans VNI and C. gattii VGII are the most prevalent genotypes. Moreover, different clinical settings published in Brazil were described. As in other countries, cryptococcosis is difficult to treat due to a limited therapeutic arsenal, which is highly toxic and costly. The presence of a polysaccharide capsule, thermo-tolerance, production of melanin, biofilm formation, mechanisms for iron use, and morphological alterations is an important virulence mechanism of these yeasts. The introduction of cryptococcosis as a compulsory notification disease could improve data regarding incidence and help in the management of these infections.

Antifungal Drugs TDM: Trends and Update

PURPOSE

The increasing burden of invasive fungal infections results in growing challenges to antifungal (AF) therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM). This review aims to provide an overview of recent advances in AF TDM.

METHODS

We conducted a PubMed search for articles during 2016-2020 using "TDM" or "pharmacokinetics" or "drug-drug-interaction" with "antifungal," consolidated for each AF. Selection was limited to English language articles with human data on drug exposure.

RESULTS

More than 1000 articles matched the search terms. We selected 566 publications. The latest findings tend to confirm previous observations in real-life clinical settings. The pharmacokinetic variability related to special populations is not specific but must be considered. AF benefit-to-risk ratio, drug-drug interaction (DDI) profiles, and minimal inhibitory concentrations for pathogens must be known to manage at-risk situations and patients. Itraconazole has replaced ketoconazole in healthy volunteers DDI studies. Physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling is widely used to assess metabolic azole DDI. AF prophylactic use was studied more for Aspergillus spp. and Mucorales in oncohematology and solid organ transplantation than for Candida (already studied). Emergence of central nervous system infection and severe infections in immunocompetent individuals both merit special attention. TDM is more challenging for azoles than amphotericin B and echinocandins. Fewer TDM requirements exist for fluconazole and isavuconazole (ISZ); however, ISZ is frequently used in clinical situations in which TDM is recommended. Voriconazole remains the most challenging of the AF, with toxicity limiting high-dose treatments. Moreover, alternative treatments (posaconazole tablets, ISZ) are now available.

CONCLUSIONS

TDM seems to be crucial for curative and/or long-term maintenance treatment in highly variable patients. TDM poses fewer cost issues than the drugs themselves or subsequent treatment issues. The integration of clinical pharmacology into multidisciplinary management is now increasingly seen as a part of patient care.

Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii Species Complexes in Latin America: A Map of Molecular Types, Genotypic Diversity, and Antifungal Susceptibility as Reported by the Latin American Cryptococcal Study Group

Cryptococcosis, a potentially fatal mycosis, is caused by members of the Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii species complexes. In Latin America, cryptococcal meningitis is still an important health threat with a significant clinical burden. Analysis of publicly available molecular data from 5686 clinical, environmental, and veterinary cryptococcal isolates from member countries of the Latin American Cryptococcal Study Group showed that, as worldwide, C. neoformans molecular type VNI is the most common cause of cryptococcosis (76.01%) in HIV-infected people, followed by C. gattii molecular type VGII (12.37%), affecting mostly otherwise healthy hosts. These two molecular types also predominate in the environment (68.60% for VNI and 20.70% for VGII). Among the scarce number of veterinary cases, VGII is the predominant molecular type (73.68%). Multilocus sequence typing analysis showed that, in Latin America, the C. neoformans population is less diverse than the C. gattii population (D of 0.7104 vs. 0.9755). Analysis of antifungal susceptibility data showed the presence of non-wild-type VNI, VGI, VGII, and VGIII isolates in the region. Overall, the data presented herein summarize the progress that has been made towards the molecular epidemiology of cryptococcal isolates in Latin America, contributing to the characterization of the genetic diversity and antifungal susceptibility of these globally spreading pathogenic yeasts.

Antifungal activity of peptide MSI-1 against Cryptococcus neoformans infection in vitro and in murine cryptococcal meningoencephalitis

The development of novel antifungal agents with high efficacy, low drug tolerance and few side effects is urgent. MSI-1 (GIWKFLKKAKKFWK-NH₂), a cationic antimicrobial peptide, may be an attractive antifungal agent because of its structural characteristics, perfect stability against pH and high-temperature/salt, low toxicity towards mammalian cells and low potential for emergence of drug tolerance. In this study, the antifungal activity of MSI-1 in vitro and in a murine model of cryptococcal meningoencephalitis was evaluated. Zeta potential assay, flow cytometry, fluorescence microscope, transmission electron microscopy and microscale thermophoresis were performed to clarify the mechanisms underlying MSI-1 against C. neoformans. The results showed that MSI-1 exerted effective anti-cryptococcal activity in vitro, with MICs of 8-16 μg/mL and MFCs of 8-32 μg/mL, and in a C neoformans-infected mouse model, with significantly improved animal survival, decreased production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and alleviated lung injury, because the potent and rapid fungicidal activity of MSI-1 could effectively eliminate fungal counts in mouse organs. We confirmed that the positively charged peptide bound to C. neoformans by electrostatic attraction after interacting with glucuronoxylomannan (the primary component of C. neoformans capsule). Subsequently, MSI-1 increased the membrane fluidity of fungal cells and the cell membrane permeability, causing destabilized membrane integrity and leading to the final death of fungi. Collectively, MSI-1 possessed potent anti-cryptococcal activity via its notable membrane disruption effect and may be a potential candidate for use in antifungal infection induced by C. neoformans, especially azole-resistant cryptococcus.

Clinical and microbiological characteristics of cryptococcosis at an university hospital in China from 2013 to 2017

Background

This study aims to explore the epidemiology, clinical profile and strain characteristics of cryptococcosis from 2013 to 2017 in a major teaching hospital in China.

Methods

Trends in antifungal drug susceptibility of 217 consecutive non-repetitive cryptococcal isolates collected from patients of an university hospital in China were analyzed between 2013 and 2017. Of those, 98 isolates were conserved for identification by internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequencing and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) system. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) was used to designate molecular types. Clinical characteristics of the 98 patients with cryptococcosis during the period of 2013–2017 were retrospectively evaluated.

Results

There was a trend for gradual increase in the MIC range of fluconazole was from 2013 to 2017. The conserved 98 clinical cryptococcal isolates included 97 C. neoformans and one C. gattii, and 90 (91.8%) isolates belonged to ST5 genotype VNI. Out of the 98 patients with cryptococcosis, 28 (28.6%) were HIV-infected and 32 (32.7%) had no underlying diseases. HIV-infected patients had higher mortality than HIV-uninfected patients (28.6% vs 14.3%, p = 0.147).

Conclusions

Most of the patients with cryptococcosis were not HIV-infected in this study, while patients with HIV had a higher mortality. Reduced susceptibility to fluconazole was observed among C. neoformans isolates, most of them belonged to ST5 genotype VNI having an impact on the effective dose of fluconazole.

The status of cryptococcosis in Latin America

Cryptococcosis is a life-threatening fungal infection caused by the encapsulated yeasts Cryptococcus neoformans and C. gattii, acquired from the environment. In Latin America, as occurring worldwide, C. neoformans causes more than 90% of the cases of cryptococcosis, affecting predominantly patients with HIV, while C. gattii generally affects otherwise healthy individuals. In this region, cryptococcal meningitis is the most common presentation, with amphotericin B and fluconazole being the antifungal drugs of choice. Avian droppings are the predominant environmental reservoir of C. neoformans, while C. gattii is associated with several arboreal species. Importantly, C. gattii has a high prevalence in Latin America and has been proposed to be the likely origin of some C. gattii populations in North America. Thus, in the recent years, significant progress has been made with the study of the basic biology and laboratory identification of cryptococcal strains, in understanding their ecology, population genetics, host-pathogen interactions, and the clinical epidemiology of this important mycosis in Latin America.

Fluconazole levels in serum and cerebrospinal fluid according to daily dosage in patients with cryptococcosis and other fungal infections

Fluconazole is extensively used for the treatment of candidiasis and cryptococcosis. Among other factors, successful treatment is related to appropriate fluconazole levels in blood and cerebrospinal fluid. In the present study, fluconazole levels were determined in 15 patients, 14 of whom had AIDS and 13 had neurocryptococcosis. The only selection criterion was treatment with fluconazole, which was performed with a generic or similar form of the drug. Fluconazole level was determined by high performance liquid chromatography and the susceptibility profile of Cryptococcus spp. isolated from the patients was assessed by broth microdilution. Blood and cerebrospinal fluid fluconazole levels were found to be related to the fluconazole daily dose, and exceeded the minimum inhibitory concentration of this antifungal for the Cryptococcus spp. isolates. A good correlation was observed between serum and cerebrospinal fluid drug concentration. In conclusion, treatment with non-original fluconazole under usual medical practice conditions results in appropriate blood and cerebrospinal fluid levels of the drug for inhibiting Cryptococcus spp. susceptible to this antifungal drug. The relatively common failures of neurocryptococcosis treatment appear not to be due to insufficient fluconazole levels in the cerebrospinal fluid, especially with the use of daily doses of 400–800 mg.