Microbiology - Part 2 (Fungi, Protozoa etc) Flashcards
Why are fungi eukaryotic
Have a nuclear membrane
What is meant by fungi being heterotrophic
Get nutrients from what they are living on
How do fungi move/spread
By means of growth or spore release
Describe cell wall of fungi
Chitinous cell wall
Define yeast
Small single celled organisms that divide bu budding
What do moulds form from
Multicellular hyphae and spores
What are Dimorphic fungi
Fungi that exist as both yeasts and moulds, switching between the two when conditions suit
Give example of dimorphic fungi
Coccidioides immitis
- grow as mould at ambient temperature
- convert to yeast at body temperature after inhalation
Can fungi effect humans
Only a few fungal forms can actually infect humans.
Fungi have an inability to grow at 37 degrees
Fungi also can’t evade the adaptive/innate immune response
Describe the burden of fungal disease
Large as most people will have had at least one in lifetime e.g. nappy rash, tine pedis (athletes foot), fungal asthma
However life-threatening fungal infection is RARE in healthy hosts
What patients can suffer Invasive/life threatening fungal diseases
Immunocomprimised hosts
Post-surgical patients
(Healthy hosts)
What fungal infections are immuno-comprimised hosts at risk of?
Candida line infections
Pneumocystis
Invasive aspergillosis
What fungal infections are post-surgical patients at risk of?
Intra-abdominal infections
What fungal infections are healthy hosts at risk of?
Fungal asthma
Travel associated fungal infections e.g. dimorphic fungi
What is the aim of antimicrobial drug therapy?
To achieve inhibitory levels of agent at the site of infection without host cell toxicity
Why is selective toxicity harder to be achieved for fungi than bacteria
Fungi are eukaryotic and so more similar to human cells (and harder to differentiate)
What increases selective toxicity
Target does not exist in humans
Target is significantly different to human analogue
Drug is concentrated in organism cell with respect to humans
Organism has an increased permeability to the compound [used to target and treat it]
Give example of drug that targets fungal nucleus
Flucytosine
Give example of drug that targets fungal cells wall
Echinocandins
What does fungal cell wall contain
Mannoproteins
B 1,3-glucan
B 1,6-glucan
Chitin
What does fungal plasma membrane contain
Ergosterol
not cholesterol like in humans
Give examples of drugs that target fungal plasma membranes
Amphotericin
Azoles
Terbinafine
Define Amphoteric
A compound that is able to act as a base and an acid
What class of compounds does Amphotericin B belong to
Polyenes
What is meant by polyenes being a fungicidal
Cause pore formation in ergosterol containing membranes
Why is Amphotericin B more selective for fungi than human cells?
As has 10 times lower affinity for cholesterol in mammalian membranes than ergosterol
Although Amphotericin B is more specific for fungi, what toxicity can it still cause to humans?
Nephrotoxicity (dose dependent and usually reversible)
Distal Renal Tubular Acidosis (hypokalaemia)
Can cause hyperkalaemia if infused rapidly resulting in cellular damage
Also causes infusion related chills/rigors/hypotension and acute anaphylactoid reactions
What class of compounds does Terbinafine belong to
Allylamines
How does Terbinafine work?
Causes reversible inhibition of squalene epoxidase (an enzyme required for growth of the fungi).
Inhibits ergosterol biosynthesis.
Distributed extensively to poorly perfused sites such as skin and nail beds.
What is the bioavailability of Terinafine?
It is well absorbed by undergoes extensive first pass metabolism
Therefore bioavailability is 45%
What fungi is Terinafine mainly used against?
Candida and Aspergillus
Superficial infections including onychomycosis
What are side effects of Terinafine?
Well-tolerated but results in:
Taste disturbance
Deranged liver function tests (LFT)
Does also result in increased CYP450 metabolism (by multiple enzymes and is minimally inhibitory)
What class of drugs is Caspofungin, Anidulafungin and Micafungin from?
Echinocandin
How do Echinocandins work?
Inhibit formation of cell wall by inhibiting B-1,3-glucan synthase, preventing formation of glucan
Give examples of fungi resistant to Echinocandins and why
Some fungi don't have large amounts of glucan (1,3B) in their cell wall so are intrinsically resistant e.g.: Crytococcus Zygomycetes Trichosporon (Limited activity against Scedosporium)
What are potential side effects of Echinocandins
Limited drug toxicity: Rare type-1 hypersensitivity Hepatotoxicity Hypokalaemia (but has few drug interactions)
What are uses of echinocandins?
Systemic disease
Activity against mould but not yeast forms of dimorphics
Why are echinocandins only given IV
poor oral bioavailability
How do Azoles work?
Inhibit ergosterol biosynthesis
What class of drugs would you use for superficial infections (including onychomycosis)
Allylamines e.g. Terbinafine
Give examples of Echinocandins
Caspofungin
Anidulafungin
Micafungin
Give examples of Azoles
Clotrimazole Miconazole Ketonazole Fluconazole etc
Mechanism os Azoles
Inhibit ergosterol biosynthesis
Dose dependent inhibitors of 14a-sterol demethylase (important intermediate in pathway of cholesterol and ergosterol production)
Give adverse effects of Azoles (relatively safe tho)
Transaminitis
GI side effects (more so with Itraconazole e.g. nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, rare life threatening liver failure)
Which Azoles have more pormenant drug interactions and with what
Itraconacole (potent CYP3A4 inhibitor)
Interactions with statins, steroids, (same as fluconazole)
Fluconazole (hydrophilic and excreted unchanged)
Less significant interactions with Warfarin, Calcineurin inhibitors, Anxiolytics
Pyrimidine Class:
Give example, mechanism and uses
5-fluorocytosine
Inhibits DNA and RNA synthesis
Systemic disease
Grisan class:
Give example, mechanism, uses
Griseofulvin
Inhibits microtubule assembly
Topical disease
What is onychomycosis
fungal infection of the nail caused by dermatophyte moulds
treatment limited and low success rate
Describe pathogenesis of Pneumocystis
Infection of healthy people is frequent and occurs early in life.
Disease develops with moderate-severe immuno-comprimisation (Especially those of HIV, transplant and steroids)
Patient has hypoxia worse than is suggested in chest X-ray
Treatment of pneumocystis
Co-trimoxazole, Clindamycin, Pentamidine, Trimetrexate
Give examples of Mycobacteria
M. tuberculosis - TB/Tuberculosis M. leprae - Leprosy M. avian complex (MAC) - Disseminated infections in AIDS or patients with chronic lung disease M. kansasii - Chronic lung infection M. marinum - Fish tank granuloma M.ulcerans - Buruli ulcer
Why is it difficult for antibiotics to Taggert the division phase of mycobacteria?
Slow growth means it’s difficult for antibiotics to target division phase
M. tuberculosis generation time 15-20 hours (compared to 1 hour for common bacterial pathogens)
Describe microbiology of mycobacteria
Aerobic Resistance to staining by acid and alcohol May cause meningitis (TB meningitis) Can withstand phagolysosome killing Non-spore forming Non-motile Bacilli High content of high molecular weight lipid in cell wall Slow growing
What are key components of the cell wall?
Mycololic acids and liporabinomannan - make strong waxy cell wall that is hard for immune system to target/damage
Weakly gram-positive or colourless (difficult to stain mycobacteria due to thick cell wall)
Who discovered TB
Robert Koch
*State what Koch postulated
Bacteria should be found in all people with disease
Bacteria should be isolated from the infected lesions in people with the disease
A pure culture inoculated into a susceptible person should produce symptoms of the disease
The same bacteria should be isolated from the intentionally infected individual
What makes mycobacteria resistant to gram stain?
High lipid content with mycolic acids in call wall
What stain can be used to test for mycobacteria?
Ziehl-Neelsen stain
Pink/Red (positive for acid-fast)
What can be used to detect/analysis nucleic acid in mycobacteria
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
Amplifies nucleic acid
rapid diagnosis in TB endemic countries
Describe immunology of mycobacterial disease
Mycobacteria are acid-fast bacilli that are phagocytosed by macrophages and placed in macrophage’s phagolysosome.
Bacteria has adapted to intracellular environment, aims to withstand phagolysosomal killing and escape to cytosol with presence of thick waxy cell wall.
Microbicidal molecules used by host to kill mycobacterium.
Acidifaction aids digestion and degradation by proteases of the mycobacteria - results in antigens to present to T cells.
CD4 T cells generate interferon gamma which helps activate intracellular killing in macrophage
IL-12 release by macrophages further stimulates generation of T helper cells and thus interferon gamma release
Granulomas arise in a response to try and contain and possibly starve the mycobacteria over time
What allows mycobacteria to withstand phagolysosomal killing
Thick waxy cell wall
What is function of IL-12 in mycobacterial immunology
Released by macrophages
Further stimulates the generation of T-helper cells and interferon gamma release
What is result win genetic defect in interferon gamma or IL-12 receptors or elements of their signalling pathways? (mycobacterial immunology)
Susceptibility to mycobacterial infection
How do CD4 T-cells help activate intracellular killing by macrophages
Generation of interferon gamma
What is done to try and contain mycobacteria
Granulomas formed to try and contain mycobacteria Macrophages become epithelioid cells and some macrophages fuse with each other to form giant multinucleate cells "Langerhans giant cells" T cells (incl cytotoxic CD8 T-cells) infiltrate granuloma
What happens to tissue infected by mycobacteria in granuloma formation
Central tissue may necroses and form a caveating granuloma
Granuloma prevents nutrients from entering thereby starving bacteria
What is equivalent of caveating granuloma in lung
Central tissue necrose
Formation of a CAVITY
What happens to TB in granuloma
TB will go into a dormant sate inside granuloma
Can be reactivated at some point in the future
The highly immunogenic nature of mycobacterial lipid stimulate T-cell responses, how long after exposure to M.tuberculosis
3-9 weeks
What are positive T-cell responses to M.tuberculosis exposure
Macrophage killing of mycobacteria
Containment of infection
Formation of tissue granuloma