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Neutrophil Responses to Aspergillosis: New Roles for Old Players

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Abstract

Neutrophils are professional phagocytic cells that play a crucial role in innate immunity. Through an assortment of antifungal effector mechanisms, neutrophils are essential in controlling the early stages of fungal infection. These mechanisms range from the production of reactive oxygen intermediates and release of antimicrobial enzymes to the formation of complex extracellular traps that aid in the elimination of the fungus. Their importance in antifungal immunity is supported by the extreme susceptibility to infection of patients with primary (e.g., chronic granulomatous disease) or acquired (e.g., undergoing immunosuppressive therapy) neutrophil deficiency. More recently, common genetic variants affecting neutrophil antifungal capacity have also been disclosed as major risk factors for aspergillosis in conditions of generalized immune deficiency. The present review revisits the role of neutrophils in the host response against Aspergillus and highlights the consequences of their deficiency in susceptibility to aspergillosis.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a Research Grant from the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID). Cristina Cunha was supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal (contract SFRH/BPD/96176/2013).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Health Sciences, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal

    Cristina Cunha & Agostinho Carvalho

  2. ICVS/3B’s – PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga/Guimarães, Portugal

    Cristina Cunha & Agostinho Carvalho

  3. Septomics Research Centre, Friedrich-Schiller-University and Leibniz-Institute for Natural Products Research and Infection Biology, Hans-Knöll-Institute, Jena, Germany

    Oliver Kurzai

  4. Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik II, Universitätsklinikum Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany

    Jürgen Löffler

  5. Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Parma, Parma, Italy

    Franco Aversa

  6. Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy

    Luigina Romani

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  1. Cristina Cunha
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  2. Oliver Kurzai
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  3. Jürgen Löffler
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  4. Franco Aversa
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  5. Luigina Romani
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  6. Agostinho Carvalho
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Correspondence to Agostinho Carvalho.

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Cunha, C., Kurzai, O., Löffler, J. et al. Neutrophil Responses to Aspergillosis: New Roles for Old Players. Mycopathologia 178, 387–393 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-014-9796-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-014-9796-7

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