Author(s):
Gonçalves, Samuel Martins ; Lagrou, Katrien ; Oliveira, Cláudio Manuel Duarte ; Maertens, Johan A. ; Cunha, Cristina Amorim ; Carvalho, Agostinho
Date: 2017
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/67152
Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
Subject(s): Animals; Aspergillosis; Aspergillus; Dysbiosis; Fungi; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Humans; Inflammation; Metabolome; Mice; Microbiota; Mycoses; Precision Medicine; Respiratory Tract Infections; Signal Transduction; Symbiosis; antifungal immunity; fungal disease; host genetics; microbiome; personalized medicine; Science & Technology; Ciências Médicas::Medicina Básica
Description
Filamentous fungi of the genus Aspergillus are responsible for several superficial and invasive infections and allergic syndromes. The risk of infection and its clinical outcome vary significantly even among patients with similar predisposing clinical factors and pathogen exposure. There is increasing evidence that the individual microbiome supervises the outcome of the host-fungus interaction by influencing mechanisms of immune regulation, inflammation, metabolism, and other physiological processes. Microbiome-mediated mechanisms of resistance allow therefore the control of fungal colonization, preventing the onset of overt disease, particularly in patients with underlying immune dysfunction. Here, we review this emerging area of research and discuss the contribution of the microbiota (and its dysbiosis), including its immunoregulatory properties and relationship with the metabolic activity of commensals, to respiratory fungal diseases. Finally, we highlight possible strategies aimed at decoding the microbiome-metabolome dialog and at its exploitation toward personalized medical interventions in patients at high risk of infection.
Merieux Research Grant 2016 from Institut Merieux, the Northern Portugal Regional Operational Program (NORTE 2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) (NORTE-01-014545-FEDER000013), and by Fundação (IF/00735/2014 to A.C., and SFRH/BPD/96176/2013 to C.C.)
