Abstract
The endemic human pathogenic fungus Histoplasma capsulatum is a major fungal pathogen with a broad variety of clinical presentations, ranging from mild, focal pulmonary disease to life-threatening systemic infections. Although azoles, such as itraconazole and voriconazole, and amphotericin B have significant activity against H. capsulatum, about 1 in 10 patients hospitalized due to histoplasmosis die. Hence, new approaches for managing disease are being sought. Over the past 10 years, studies have demonstrated that monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) can modify the pathogenesis of histoplasmosis. Disease has been shown to be impacted by mAbs targeting either fungal cell surface proteins or host co-stimulatory molecules. This review will detail our current knowledge regarding the impact of antibody therapy on histoplasmosis.
Highlights
Antibody therapy for histoplasmosisThe endemic human pathogenic fungus Histoplasma capsulatum is a major fungal pathogen with a broad variety of clinical presentations, ranging from mild, focal pulmonary disease to life-threatening systemic infections
The most commonly encountered endemic mycoses in the Americas are due to Histoplasma capsulatum, Blastomyces dermatitidis, Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, and Coccidioides immitis/posadasii (Lockhart et al, 2009; Prado et al, 2009)
We have documented that live fungal cells secrete only small amounts of the protein and interestingly, we demonstrated that the M antigen was expressed at the H. capsulatum cell surface and that it functions as a catalase (Guimaraes et al, 2008)
Summary
The endemic human pathogenic fungus Histoplasma capsulatum is a major fungal pathogen with a broad variety of clinical presentations, ranging from mild, focal pulmonary disease to life-threatening systemic infections. Azoles, such as itraconazole and voriconazole, and amphotericin B have significant activity against H. capsulatum, about 1 in 10 patients hospitalized due to histoplasmosis die. Over the past 10 years, studies have demonstrated that monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) can modify the pathogenesis of histoplasmosis. Disease has been shown to be impacted by mAbs targeting either fungal cell surface proteins or host co-stimulatory molecules. This review will detail our current knowledge regarding the impact of antibody therapy on histoplasmosis
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