Morris Alison, Wei Kenneth, Afshar Kamyar, Huang Laurence
Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
J Infect Dis. 2008 Jan 1;197(1):10-7. doi: 10.1086/523814.
Pneumocystis pneumonia has long been recognized as a cause of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised populations, particularly those with HIV infection. Pneumocystis colonization-that is, detection of the organism or its DNA, without signs or symptoms of pneumonia-has recently been described, and accumulating evidence suggests that it may be an important clinical phenomenon. Sensitive molecular techniques such as polymerase chain reaction are frequently used to identify Pneumocystis colonization. Low levels of Pneumocystis in the lungs may stimulate pulmonary inflammation and may play a role in the development of lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In this review, we discuss evidence for the occurrence of Pneumocystis colonization in animals as well as the epidemiology and risk factors for Pneumocystis colonization in various human populations. We also evaluate the clinical significance of Pneumocystis colonization and its relationship to lung disease.
肺孢子菌肺炎长期以来一直被认为是免疫功能低下人群发病和死亡的原因，尤其是那些感染了艾滋病毒的人。肺孢子菌定植，即检测到该病原体或其DNA，但无肺炎的体征或症状，最近已有相关描述，越来越多的证据表明这可能是一种重要的临床现象。诸如聚合酶链反应等灵敏的分子技术经常被用于识别肺孢子菌定植。肺部低水平的肺孢子菌可能会刺激肺部炎症，并可能在慢性阻塞性肺疾病等肺部疾病的发展中起作用。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了动物中肺孢子菌定植发生的证据，以及不同人群中肺孢子菌定植的流行病学和危险因素。我们还评估了肺孢子菌定植的临床意义及其与肺部疾病的关系。
