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New Insights into Paracoccidioides and Paracoccidioidomycosis
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New Insights into Paracoccidioides and Paracoccidioidomycosis

A special issue of Journal of Fungi (ISSN 2309-608X). This special issue belongs to the section "Fungal Pathogenesis and Disease Control".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2024 | Viewed by 2490

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Anamaria Mello Miranda Paniago

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Medicine, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, Brazil
Interests: medical mycology; infectious diseases; paracoccidioidomycosis; leishmaniasis
Dr. James Venturini

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Medicine, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, Brazil
Interests: immunology; diagnosis; pulmonary fibrosis; paracoccidioidomycosis

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) remains endemic in Latin America. Despite recent advances in the ecoepidemiology and molecular biology of its causative agent, Paracoccidioides spp., people continue to become infected and fall ill. It is still a disease with little visibility and very low clinical suspicion, which contributes to delayed diagnosis. Classic microbiological tests have good accuracy, but require trained professionals. Additionally, rapid or automated serological or molecular tests for PCM are not yet available. Treatment is extensive and subject to abandonment, and public health systems are not yet organized into a network for its management. No therapeutic intervention with action on tissue fibrosis, responsible for disabling sequelae, has been proposed. Due to all these factors, we still witness suffering and deaths, either due to the active PCM or complications of sequelae. Therefore, we are pleased invite you, basic or clinical research researchers, to contribute to this Special Issue to subsidizing control actions and the clinical management of PCM. We welcome reviews and original research on molecular biology, host pathogenesis, mycological aspects, clinical experiences, diagnostic tests, and clinical management issues.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Anamaria Mello Miranda Paniago
Dr. James Venturini
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Fungi is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • paracoccidioides
  • paracoccidioidomycosis
  • molecular biology
  • epidemiology
  • pathogenesis
  • immune response
  • diagnosis
  • therapy

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 1931 KiB  
Article
Analysis and Interpretation of Automated Blood Count in the Treatment of Chronic Paracoccidioidomycosis
by Eliana da Costa Alvarenga de Brito, Adriana de Oliveira França, Igor Valadares Siqueira, Vinícius Lopes Teodoro Félix, Amanda Alves Rezende, Bárbara Casella Amorim, Suzane Eberhart Ribeiro da Silva, Rinaldo Poncio Mendes, Simone Schneider Weber and Anamaria Mello Miranda Paniago
J. Fungi 2024, 10(5), 317; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof10050317 - 27 Apr 2024
Viewed by 338
Abstract
Blood count is crucial for assessing bone marrow’s cell production and differentiation during infections, gaging disease severity, and monitoring therapeutic responses. The profile of blood count in chronic forms of paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) has been insufficiently explored. To better understand the changes in hematological [...] Read more.
Blood count is crucial for assessing bone marrow’s cell production and differentiation during infections, gaging disease severity, and monitoring therapeutic responses. The profile of blood count in chronic forms of paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) has been insufficiently explored. To better understand the changes in hematological cells in different stages of the PCM chronic form, we evaluated the blood count, including immature blood cells in automated equipment, before and during the treatment follow-up of 62 chronic PCM patients. Predominantly male (96.8%) with an average age of 54.3 (standard deviation SD 6.9) years, participants exhibited pre-treatment conditions such as anemia (45.2%), monocytosis (38.7%), and leukocytosis (17.7%), which became less frequent after clinical cure. Anemia was more prevalent in severe cases. Notably, hemoglobin and reticulocyte hemoglobin content increased, while leukocytes, monocytes, neutrophils, immature granulocytes, and platelets decreased. Chronic PCM induced manageable hematological abnormalities, mainly in the red blood series. Monocytosis, indicating monocytes’ role in PCM’s immune response, was frequent. Post-treatment, especially after achieving clinical cure, significant improvements were observed in various hematological indices, including immature granulocytes and reticulocyte hemoglobin content, underscoring the impact of infection on these parameters. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Insights into Paracoccidioides and Paracoccidioidomycosis)
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15 pages, 5238 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Geoclimatic Factors on the Distribution of Paracoccidioidomycosis in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil
by Larissa Rodrigues Fabris, Nathan Guilherme de Oliveira, Bruna Eduarda Bortolomai, Lavínia Cássia Ferreira Batista, Marcos Henrique Sobral, Alisson André Ribeiro, Ursulla Vilella Andrade, Antonio Conceição Paranhos Filho, Lídia Raquel de Carvalho, Ida Maria Foschiani Dias Baptista, Rinaldo Poncio Mendes and Anamaria Mello Miranda Paniago
J. Fungi 2024, 10(3), 165; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof10030165 - 21 Feb 2024
Viewed by 940
Abstract
The incidence of paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) varies in Latin America, and it is influenced by environmental factors. This study evaluated the distribution of PCM acute/subacute form (AF) cases and their correlation with geoclimatic factors in the Mato Grosso do Sul (MS) state. The study [...] Read more.
The incidence of paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) varies in Latin America, and it is influenced by environmental factors. This study evaluated the distribution of PCM acute/subacute form (AF) cases and their correlation with geoclimatic factors in the Mato Grosso do Sul (MS) state. The study included 81 patients diagnosed with the PCM/AF at the University Hospital of the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul between January 1980 and February 2022. Geographic coordinates, health microregion of patient’s residence, compensated average temperature, relative air humidity (RH), El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and average global temperature were analyzed. The highest incidence was observed in the Aquidauana (7/100,000 inhabitants), while Campo Grande, the state’s capital, had the highest number (n = 34; 42.4%) and density (4.4 cases/km2) of cases. The number of cases increased during extended periods of the El Niño phenomenon. A positive correlation was found between higher RH and PCM/AF cases. Most PCM/AF cases were found in areas with loamy soils and RH ranging from 60.8 to 73.6%. In MS, the health microregions of PCM/AF patients are characterized by deforestation for agricultural and pasture use, coupled with loamy soils and specific climatic phenomena leading to higher soil humidity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Insights into Paracoccidioides and Paracoccidioidomycosis)
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13 pages, 1825 KiB  
Article
Rapid Classification of Serum from Patients with Paracoccidioidomycosis Using Infrared Spectroscopy, Univariate Statistics, and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA)
by Alessandra Koehler, Maria Lúcia Scroferneker, Nikolas Mateus Pereira de Souza, Paulo Cezar de Moraes, Beatriz Aparecida Soares Pereira, Ricardo de Souza Cavalcante, Rinaldo Pôncio Mendes and Valeriano Antonio Corbellini
J. Fungi 2024, 10(2), 147; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof10020147 - 12 Feb 2024
Viewed by 993
Abstract
Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) is a systemic mycosis that is diagnosed by visualizing the fungus in clinical samples or by other methods, like serological techniques. However, all PCM diagnostic methods have limitations. The aim of this study was to develop a diagnostic tool for PCM [...] Read more.
Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) is a systemic mycosis that is diagnosed by visualizing the fungus in clinical samples or by other methods, like serological techniques. However, all PCM diagnostic methods have limitations. The aim of this study was to develop a diagnostic tool for PCM based on Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. A total of 224 serum samples were included: 132 from PCM patients and 92 constituting the control group (50 from healthy blood donors and 42 from patients with other systemic mycoses). Samples were analyzed by attenuated total reflection (ATR) and a t-test was performed to find differences in the spectra of the two groups. The wavenumbers that had p < 0.05 had their diagnostic potential evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. The spectral region with the lowest p value was used for variable selection through principal component analysis (PCA). The selected variables were used in a linear discriminant analysis (LDA). In univariate analysis, the ROC curves with the best performance were obtained in the region 1551–1095 cm−1. The wavenumber that had the highest AUC value was 1264 cm−1, achieving a sensitivity of 97.73%, specificity of 76.01%, and accuracy of 94.22%. The total separation of groups was obtained in the PCA performed with a spectral range of 1551–1095 cm−1. LDA performed with the eight wavenumbers with the greatest weight from the group discrimination in the PCA obtained 100% accuracy. The methodology proposed here is simple, fast, and highly accurate, proving its potential to be applied in the diagnosis of PCM. The proposed method is more accurate than the currently known diagnostic methods, which is particularly relevant for a neglected tropical mycosis such as paracoccidioidomycosis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Insights into Paracoccidioides and Paracoccidioidomycosis)
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