It's All in Your Head: Antifungal Immunity in the Brain

Overview

Journal Curr Opin Microbiol

Specialty Microbiology

Date 2020 Aug 24

PMID 32828989

Citations 12

Authors

Brendan D Snarr

Rebecca A Drummond

Michail S Lionakis

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

As the incidence rate of invasive fungal infections has increased with the use of modern medical interventions, so too has the occurrence of fungi invading the brain. Fungi such as Candida albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans, and Aspergillus fumigatus often infect immunocompromised individuals, and can use several strategies to invade the central nervous system (CNS) by penetrating the blood-brain barrier. Once in the brain parenchyma the specialized resident immune cells need to effectively recognize the fungus and mount an appropriate immune response to clear the infection, without causing debilitating immune-mediated toxicity and neuronal damage. Here we review the current knowledge pertaining to the antifungal response of the CNS and highlight areas where future research is required.

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