Vacinas fúngicas: estudo da resposta imune, desafios para o desenvolvimento e imunógenos candidatos para paracoccidioidomicose, candidose e criptococose

Abstract

In recent years the increased prevalence of fungal diseases in immunocompromised patients and also to remain hospitalized for a long period of time. This fact is mainly due to the use of immunosuppressive drugs, antibiotics, anticancer drugs, prosthetics and invasive surgical procedures. Currently, conventional antifungal therapy is the treatment of choice for most fungal diseases. However, when referring to systemic infections, therapy is considered a problem, why besides the possibility of selecting resistant microorganisms, there are few options for medications available in the market, which in turn are expensive, ineffective for the treatment immunocompromised patients besides having many side effects. Therefore, there is a need for new treatment options, and in this context antifungal vaccines are increasingly the target of study for the treatment of these infections. The idea is to engage the usual antifungal chemotherapy vaccine and hence stimulate cellular immune response and / or humoral host. Currently, studies involving adhesins have demontrado advances in vaccine development against Candida albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans and Paracoccidioides brasiliensis. However, further tests are needed to be able to evaluate the safest design and consequently the immune response more efficiently and accurately. The data found so far suggest that immunization reduced the amount of yeast involved in the disease in experimental models and consequently obtained a reduction in aggression against the host, then being considered a promising therapeutic option.