Detection of Opportunistic Fungi from the Bronchoalveolar Lavage Specimens of Patients with Pulmonary Diseases

Overview

Journal Adv Biomed Res

Specialty Biomedical Engineering

Date 2023 Sep 11

PMID 37694245

Authors

Sahar Kianipour

Parvin Dehghan

Mohammad Emami Ardestani

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Opportunistic fungi are a constantly evolving group of pathogens that become active when the immune system is compromised, begin to multiply, and soon overwhelm the weakened immune system. This study was performed to evaluate the number of opportunistic fungi in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples of patients with pulmonary diseases.

Materials And Methods: After receiving patients' consent and demographic forms, a total of 120 BAL samples were taken by a pulmonary physician. The etiologic agents were identified by standard morphological and molecular methods. Yeast cells were counted on culture media, and direct smears were precisely examined for the presence of yeasts elements, , and filamentous fungi.

Results: In this study, 29 (24.1%) patients showed positive direct smears for yeast elements in their BAL samples. The mean colony count of yeasts was 42,000 (CFU/mL) on culture media. Six (5%) species of filamentous fungi, including three (2.5%) isolates of species (, and ), two (1.67%) species ( and ), 1 case (0.83%) boydii were detected. Seven cases (5.83%) of cysts were observed in the direct smears stained with Giemsa. Identification of all fungi confirmed by molecular or sequencing methods.

Conclusions: Due to the presence of a large number of fungi in the BAL samples and possible physical interference with the selected drugs for treatment, we draw the attention of pulmonologists to this important issue. Rapid diagnosis of fungal infections is essential to optimize treatments and outcomes.

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