Molecular types of Cryptococcus species isolated from patients with cryptococcal meningitis in a Brazilian tertiary care hospital

Abstract

There are limited data on the molecular epidemiology of cryptococcosis in Brazil. Here, we report on the identification of the molecular pattern of the Cryptococcus species that caused meningitis in patients admitted in a Brazilian reference tertiary care hospital, and review the published studies addressing the molecular epidemiology of Cryptococcus in Brazil. Our study has shown the predominance of molecular type VNII in HIV-infected patients with cryptococcal meningoencephalitis. Molecular types VNII and VGII were occasionally detected in HIV-infected and non-infected patients with meningoencephalitis. In contrast, previous studies have shown that several regions exhibited a high prevalence of the VNI molecular type and sporadic cases of the VNII and VGII molecular types in patients with cryptococcosis in Brazil. Additional studies including VNII isolates will contribute to understanding the epidemiology and phylogenetic relationship of these genotype compared to the other ones. So far, no clear correlation has been established between genotypes, antifungal susceptibility for Cryptococcus and clinical outcome in cryptococcosis.

Keywords: Brazil; Cryptococcus; Epidemiology; Genotypes; Molecular types.