Atributos de virulência por isolados de Cryptococcus gattii e Cryptococcus neoformans de origem clínica e ambiental em Maceió, Alagoas

Abstract

Cryptococcosis, popularly known as “pigeon disease”, usually affects immunocompromised patients, after encapsulated yeasts of the complex (Cryptococcus gattii / C. neoformans) are inhaled in the environment,which, from the lungs, can spread through the hematogenic way and then result in cryptococcal meningitis, which presents a serious and fatal evolution if it is not diagnosed early. This work aimed to investigate the exposure activities, such as phenoloxidase, phospholipase and urease, in addition to the presence of mucopolysaccharide capsules and thermotolerance at 37°C by C. gattii (No = 6) and C. neoformans (No= 19) from clinical origin (Hospital Escola Hélvio Auto - HEHA), environmental (trees and pigeon droppings) and molecular patterns (IPEC/FioCruz-RJ). All studies showed exoenzyme activity (positive: P and strongly positive:SP), however, a phospholipase showed a slightly high intensity (SP) in the levels of C. neoformans (No = 17/19; 89,5%) compared to C. gattii (No = 5/6; 83.3%). As clinical strains of C. gattii were not included in the analysis, it was not possible to compare the action of the enzyme in relation to C. neoformans, however, in reference to environmental strains, all isolates of this species (No= 6) were SP, whereas in molecular patterns there was no difference between the activities of the two species, 75% (SP) and 25% (P) for both. In parallel, the thermotolerance capacity was achieved by all studied isolates. The ability to produce capsules was also investigated in all strains, however, as they were samples cultured in culture medium, they were thin in relation to those generally produced in liquor or plasma. Thus, the concomitant production of these virulence factors revealed isolates of C. gattii and C. neoformans with high virulent potential circulating in the state of Alagoas, regardless of their source, whether clinical or environmental. The data obtained from this study may contribute to a more rigorous determination of the profile of susceptibility to antifungals. This is probably the first report of phospholipase exoenzymatic activity in Alagoas.