Diagnosis of histoplasmosis: current status and perspectives.

Diagnosis of histoplasmosis: current status and perspectives. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2021 Feb 15;: Authors: Toscanini MA, Nusblat AD, Cuestas ML Abstract Histoplasmosis is a worldwide-distributed systemic mycosis caused by the dimorphic fungus Histoplasma capsulatum. Its clinical manifestations range from subclinical or mild respiratory illness to progressive disseminated histoplasmosis (PDH), a life-threatening disease, whose accurate diagnosis is still challenging and limited in many countries, where this disease is highly endemic. In this regard, Histoplasma antigen testing is now included in the WHO Essential Diagnostics List. The final diagnosis of histoplasmosis is established by culture and/or visualization of the yeast cells by cytology or histopathology using specific stains. However, both procedures have limited sensitivity to detect the disease and cultures are time-consuming. Antibody detection assays are effective for the subacute and chronic clinical forms of histoplasmosis. However, their sensitivity is low in the immunocompromised host. Several molecular "in-house" tests were also developed and showed promising results, but none of these tests are commercially available and their standardization and validation are still pending. Antigen detection assays have high sensitivity in PDH cases and are of great value for the follow-up of patients with histoplasmosis; however, cross-reactivity with other related fungi are...
Source: Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology - Category: Microbiology Authors: Tags: Appl Microbiol Biotechnol Source Type: research