Papel del sistema inmune en patologías fúngicas gastrointestinales.

Abstract

Gastrointestinal fungal pathologies are infections of clinical importance in immunocompromised patients and the sites of greatest involvement are usually the mouth and intestine. The gastrointestinal tract is characterized by facing a high and constant exposure to antigens, so the role of the immune system at this level in the recognition and defense of the microorganism is fundamental. This is how both the innate and adaptive immune response are involved in gastrointestinal fungal pathologies, with constitutive defense strategies such as: peristalsis, pancreatic enzymes, mucus, among others. In addition, cellular components such as neutrophils, dendritic cells, NK cells, monocytes and lymphocytes located in the lymphoid tissues associated with the intestine (GALT). In all of them there are a large number of membrane receptors specialized in the recognition of specific fungal antigens, which are capable of developing complex intracellular signaling pathways for an adequate immune response.

The performance of the immune system in fungal infections has been studied in detail in Candida, which serves as a reference with respect to other gastrointestinal infections caused by fungi. However, we must remember that there are other agents that can cause gastrointestinal fungal involvement such as paracoccidioidomycosis, histoplasmosis, cryptococcosis, blastomycosis, zygomycosis, aspergillosis and coccidioidomycosis, each with particular strategies to face the intestinal immune system.