Current topics in microbiology and immunology最新文献

{"title":"The Human Mycobiome.","authors":"Hao Zhang, Bing Zhai","doi":"10.1007/82_2025_315","DOIUrl":"10.1007/82_2025_315","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The human mycobiome refers to the fungal communities residing across body sites and plays pivotal roles in human health and disease. This chapter summarizes technical advances and current knowledge on the human mycobiome and discusses its clinical implications. Although high-throughput sequencing-based approaches have greatly improved the resolution of profiling fungal populations compared to the traditional culture-based methods, researchers should be aware of the inherent limitations of each approach and choose the most appropriate one or combination based on specific context of their study. We highlight the research progress on the composition of mycobiome and its cross talk with the host in the gastrointestinal tract, respiratory tract, oral cavity, genital tract, tumor tissues, and skin surface. The complex cross-kingdom interactions with bacteria and the emergence of new fungal pathogens-potentially driven by environment factors, emphasize the need to integrate mycobiome studies into broader microbial networks and the One Health frameworks. Together, this chapter underscores the potential of the human mycobiome as a diagnostic and therapeutic target in various diseases and advocates for interdisciplinary efforts to address the impact of fungi on human health.</p>","PeriodicalId":11102,"journal":{"name":"Current topics in microbiology and immunology","volume":" ","pages":"1-18"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144265550","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Antifungal Drug Resistance.","authors":"Johanna Rhodes","doi":"10.1007/82_2025_327","DOIUrl":"10.1007/82_2025_327","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Fungal infections pose an important threat to public health and food security, and with the rise in antifungal drug and fungicide resistance, we are faced with a global crisis. Currently, humanity is at an intersection of global climate change driving the expansion of species range distributions, emergence of novel pathogenic fungi, and changing at-risk populations. Here, we review the main mechanisms of antifungal drug and fungicide resistance, new drugs and mode-of-action drug classes, and future topics for risk reduction. We propose that integrating One Health and surveillance is a crucial first step in addressing this issue. Additionally, we emphasise that global collaboration among multiple stakeholders is essential to reverse the current upward trend in observed resistance. Finally, plant and medical mycologists can and should work together for the creation of a common language and antifungal stewardship plan.</p>","PeriodicalId":11102,"journal":{"name":"Current topics in microbiology and immunology","volume":" ","pages":"117-135"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144999935","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Climate Change Impacts on Environmental Fungi: Human Health and Fungal Disease.","authors":"Paola Ramos Irizarry, Daniel F Q Smith, Asiya Gusa","doi":"10.1007/82_2025_305","DOIUrl":"10.1007/82_2025_305","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Climate changes including rising temperatures and increasing severe weather events (e.g., hurricanes, flooding, and wildfires) are impacting Earth's ecosystems and increasing microbial threats to human health. Microbes in the environment, including bacteria and fungi, are adapting to new habitats and hosts in ways that may make them more disease-causing. Environmental fungi are particularly climate-sensitive, with optimal growth at cooler temperatures (25-30 °C) and with reproductive spore dispersal dependent on atmospheric conditions. While environmental fungi play a crucial role supporting plant growth and recycling nutrients in soils, some cause mild to severe infections in humans. Climate changes are expanding the geographic range of some disease-causing fungi, leading to increased fungal infections, particularly in the aftermath of natural disasters. Additionally, fungal adaptations to environmental stressors may make fungi more likely to cause disease, such as increased heat tolerance (survival at body temperature of 37 °C), or more difficult to treat, due to evolving drug resistance to environmental fungicides. Here, we explore how climate change and natural disasters impact fungal distribution, adaptation, and exposure to humans, highlighting fungal threats to human health. We propose strategies to mitigate these emerging challenges, emphasizing the collaborative and interdisciplinary efforts needed to protect human health in a changing climate.</p>","PeriodicalId":11102,"journal":{"name":"Current topics in microbiology and immunology","volume":" ","pages":"67-101"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144233493","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Role of the Patient Advocate During a Pandemic: The Case of Convalescent Plasma.","authors":"Chaim Lebovits","doi":"10.1007/82_2024_271","DOIUrl":"10.1007/82_2024_271","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic confronted medicine with several difficulties, including a lack of specific therapeutic options, the absence of out-of-hospital testing facilities to diagnose the condition, and the sudden extraordinary need for intensive medical care that overwhelmed most hospitals. Early in the pandemic, many physicians recognized that using antibodies harvested from recovering patients was a treatment that had a proven track record for many diseases and that might be used to manage the disease at least as a stopgap until more specific medicines for COVID-19 were developed. But using convalescent plasma raised many additional complications, most especially the logistics that needed to be put in place to collect and distribute such plasma. Unlike drugs ordered from a pharmacy, plasma and other blood products are procured by a complex process that depends intensely on interaction with the public, the provider of all blood products that are directly provided to patients. Blood components such as convalescent plasma, intended to be used immediately without major processing, are entirely supplied by donations from the public. This form of treatment can therefore benefit from patient advocates, especially if they are experienced in solving problems of logistics and in the process of matching supply to demand that is more commonly encountered in the business world than in medicine. In this chapter, one patient advocate, Chaim Lebovits, describes the process of mobilizing the population, interacting with blood banks and hospitals, and successfully channeling thousands of units of plasma from volunteers recovering from COVID-19 to patients in hospitals. Starting in New York City in early 2020 and initially working with communities with which Mr. Lebovits was familiar, the efforts steadily spread across many parts of the US. The model described here, which uses patient advocates to serve as a link between patients, blood banks, and hospitals in the service of gathering and distributing high-titer convalescent plasma to patients is likely to be relevant to the next pandemic.</p>","PeriodicalId":11102,"journal":{"name":"Current topics in microbiology and immunology","volume":" ","pages":"167-172"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141320688","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Emerging Human Health Problems Caused by Pathogenic and Immuno-activating Fungi.","authors":"Richard Summerbell, James Scott","doi":"10.1007/82_2025_314","DOIUrl":"10.1007/82_2025_314","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In recent years, several types of novel fungal health problems have been emerging in parallel. Antifungal-drug-resistant opportunistic pathogens have emerged both in previously unknown lineages, notably Candida auris, and in traditional pathogens and opportunists such as the Trichophyton mentagrophytes species complex and Aspergillus fumigatus. Emergence of resistance in Aspergillus is clearly connected to agricultural use of fungicides related to medical antifungals, but is brought into further prominence by the simultaneous emergence of immunosuppressive viral effects connected to influenza and SARS CoV 2 infections. The sources of drug resistance phenotypes in Candida auris and Trichophyton indotineae are unclear, but neither climate change nor drug misuse can be clearly implicated. In Onygenalean endemic mycoses, however, climate change is under suspicion of causing range extension in Coccidioides immitis. Decimation of some North American bat species associated with Histoplasma hot spots has not had a perceptible effect on this fungus so far. Historical reading suggests that it may have survived a previous loss of conditioned habitat when the passenger pigeon became extinct. Emergence of Emergomyces and new Blastomyces species appears mainly to be related to enhanced recognition. Two separate sporotrichosis outbreaks in cats in South America and Southeast Asia suggest a little-discussed mechanism of pathogen emergence, opportunity trawling, i.e. ingress of new potential hosts into pathogen habitats leading to novel epizootics. In the investigations of non-pathogenic fungi connected to immunologically or toxicologically mediated symptomatology in indoor environments, the slow augmentation of difficult-to-obtain evidence has clarified that indoor dampness and mould can cause diverse health effects, ranging from novel advent of asthmatic conditions to eczema-like skin disturbances. The methodology used to evaluate indoor mould symptomatology shares some of the deficiencies that racked medical evaluations of causality during the SARS CoV 2 outbreak. Pertinent epidemiological connections may be obscured by an excessive positivistic demand for proof where the combination of valid evidence and judicious attention to the precautionary principle would better serve the community.</p>","PeriodicalId":11102,"journal":{"name":"Current topics in microbiology and immunology","volume":" ","pages":"201-241"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144274345","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Convalescent Plasma for Immunocompromised Patients.","authors":"Shmuel Shoham","doi":"10.1007/82_2024_272","DOIUrl":"10.1007/82_2024_272","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) is an important therapeutic option for immunocompromised patients with COVID-19. Such patients are at increased risk for serious complications of infection and may also develop a unique syndrome of persistent infection. This article reviews the rationale for CCP utilization in immunocompromised patients and the evidence for its value in immunosuppressed patients with both acute and persistent COVID-19. Both historical precedence and understanding of the mechanisms of action of antibody treatment support this use, as do several lines of evidence derived from case series, comparative studies, randomized trials, and systematic reviews of the literature. A summary of recommendations from multiple practice guidelines is also provided.</p>","PeriodicalId":11102,"journal":{"name":"Current topics in microbiology and immunology","volume":" ","pages":"119-130"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141906142","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Case Report from the Patient's Perspective: Conquering a Chronic Lung Infection: My Mould Story.","authors":"Dave Shoots","doi":"10.1007/82_2025_309","DOIUrl":"10.1007/82_2025_309","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This autobiographical account chronicles a lifelong battle with fungal infections and lung disease, beginning with childhood exposure to damp, mouldy environments in flood-prone homes. The author recounts recurring lung collapses as a teenager, culminating in multiple pleurectomies and a diagnosis of blebs on the pleural lining. Years later, persistent symptoms and a series of lung infections led to a diagnosis of chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA) and severe bronchiectasis, traced to prolonged mould exposure. This chapter details the challenges of managing these conditions, including antifungal treatments, side effects, emergency surgeries, and lifestyle adjustments. The story underscores the importance of self-advocacy, collaboration with medical and mycology experts, and leveraging reliable online resources to better understand and manage chronic diseases. The author offers actionable strategies for others facing similar health challenges, emphasizing proactive care and resilience in the face of adversity. This inspiring journey highlights the intersection of personal perseverance and medical innovation in overcoming the long-term impacts of fungal lung disease.</p>","PeriodicalId":11102,"journal":{"name":"Current topics in microbiology and immunology","volume":" ","pages":"243-251"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144265547","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evidence for the Efficacy of COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma.","authors":"Stephen A Klassen, Jonathon W Senefeld","doi":"10.1007/82_2024_280","DOIUrl":"10.1007/82_2024_280","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>During the global health emergency caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), evidence relating to the efficacy of convalescent plasma therapy-evidence critically needed for both public policy and clinical practice-came from multiple levels of the epistemic hierarchy. The challenges of conducting clinical research during a pandemic, combined with the biological complexities of convalescent plasma treatment, required the use of observational data to fully assess the impact of convalescent plasma therapy on COVID symptomatology, hospitalization rates, and mortality rates. Observational studies showing the mortality benefits of convalescent plasma emerged early during the COVID-19 pandemic from multiple continents and were substantiated by real-time pragmatic meta-analyses. Although many randomized clinical trials (RCTs) were initiated at the onset of the pandemic and were designed to provide high-quality evidence, the relative inflexibility in the design of clinical trials meant that findings generally lagged behind other forms of emerging information and ultimately provided inconsistent results on the efficacy of COVID-19 convalescent plasma. In the pandemic framework, it is necessary to emphasize more flexible analytic strategies in clinical trials, including secondary, subgroup, and exploratory analyses. We conclude that in totality, observational studies and clinical trials taken together provide strong evidence of a mortality benefit conferred by COVID-19 convalescent plasma, while acknowledging that some randomized clinical trials examined suboptimal uses of convalescent plasma.</p>","PeriodicalId":11102,"journal":{"name":"Current topics in microbiology and immunology","volume":" ","pages":"99-117"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142079585","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Generating the Evidence Base for Convalescent Plasma Use for a New Infectious Disease.","authors":"Hyunah Yoon, Liise-Anne Pirofski","doi":"10.1007/82_2024_275","DOIUrl":"10.1007/82_2024_275","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) swept across the world in the waning months of 2019 and emerged as the cause of the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic in early 2020. The use of convalescent plasma (CP) for prior respiratory pandemics provided a strong biological rationale for the rapid deployment of COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) in early 2020 when no validated treatments or prior immunity existed. CCP is an antiviral agent, with its activity against SARS-CoV-2 stemming from specific antibodies elicited by the virus. Early efforts to investigate the efficacy of CCP in randomized clinical trials (RCTs) that targeted hospitalized patients with COVID-19 did not demonstrate the overall efficacy of CCP despite signals of benefit in certain subgroups, such as those treated earlier in disease. In contrast, studies adhering to the principles of antibody therapy in their study design, choice of patient population, and product qualification, i.e., those that administered high levels of specific antibody during the viral phase of disease in immunocompromised or very early in immunocompetent individuals, demonstrated benefits. In this chapter, we leverage the knowledge gained from clinical studies of CCP for COVID-19 to propose a framework for future studies of CP for a new infectious disease. This framework includes obtaining high-quality CP and designing clinical studies that adhere to the principles of antibody therapy to generate a robust evidence base for using CP.</p>","PeriodicalId":11102,"journal":{"name":"Current topics in microbiology and immunology","volume":" ","pages":"205-217"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141906143","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Importance of Geographic Proximity of Convalescent Plasma Donors.","authors":"Katie L Kunze, Patrick W Johnson","doi":"10.1007/82_2024_270","DOIUrl":"10.1007/82_2024_270","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Donor-recipient proximity emerged as an important factor influencing the efficacy of COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) treatment during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. This relationship was uncovered while analyzing data collected in the collaborative Expanded Access Program (EAP) for CCP at Mayo Clinic, a project aimed to establish protocols for CCP use amid the uncertainty of the novel disease. Analysis of data from nearly 28,000 patients revealed a significant reduction in risk of 30-day mortality for those receiving near-sourced plasma when compared to those receiving distantly sourced plasma [pooled relative risk, 0.73 (95% CI 0.67-0.80)], prompting adjustments in treatment protocols at selected institutions, and highlighting the importance of proximity in optimizing CCP outcomes. Despite its significance, subsequent studies of CCP effectiveness in COVID-19 have often overlooked donor-recipient proximity. Our findings emphasize the importance of donor-recipient proximity in CCP treatment in the current pandemic, and we discuss potential methods for improving CCP efficacy in future pandemics. Our recommendations include prioritizing virus genotyping for vulnerable patients, establishing a robust testing infrastructure, and collecting additional donor data to enhance plasma selection. This chapter underscores the importance of comprehensive data collection and sharing to navigate the evolving landscape of newly emerging infectious diseases.</p>","PeriodicalId":11102,"journal":{"name":"Current topics in microbiology and immunology","volume":" ","pages":"89-98"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141906144","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}