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Fungal Colonization of the Brain: Anatomopathological Aspects of Neurological Cryptococcosis
Ana Caroline Colombo,
Marcio L. Rodrigues
Affiliation: Instituto Carlos Chagas da Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brazil
Keywords: Fungal Infections, Cryptococcus, Meningitis, Meningoencephalitis
Categories: News and Views, Life Sciences, Medicine
DOI: 10.17160/josha.11.2.983
Languages: English
Brain infection by the fungus Cryptococcus neoformans results in an estimated 500,000 human deaths per annum. Colonization of the central nervous system (CNS) by C. neoformans causes different clinical syndromes that involve interaction of a number of fungal components with distinct brain cells. In this manuscript, our literature review confirmed the notion that the Cryptococcus field is expanding rapidly, but also suggested that studies on neuropathogenesis still represent a small fraction of basic research activity in the field. We therefore discussed anatomical and physiological aspects of the brain during infection by C. neoformans, in addition to mechanisms by which brain resident cells interact with the fungus. This review suggests that multiple efforts are necessary to improve the knowledge on how C. neoformans affects brain cells, in order to enable the generation of new therapeutic tools in the near future. This review was first published in SciELOI in August 2015 (https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765201520140704).