Open AccessS ‐Adenosylmethionine and Pneumocystis
Author(s) -
Merali Salim,
Clarkson Allen Boykin
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2004.tb09694.x
Subject(s) - pneumocystis pneumonia , pneumocystis carinii , microbiology and biotechnology , pneumonia , biology , metabolite , pneumocystis jirovecii , immunology , medicine , biochemistry , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv)
Pneumocystis is a parasitic fungus causing pneumonia in immunosuppressed mammals and S ‐adenosylmethionine a key intermediary metabolite for all cells. Other than a species of Rickettsia bacteria and an aberrant strain of the protozoan Amoeba proteus, Pneumocystis is the only cell known unable to synthesize AdoMet; it must extract this key compound from its host. This was discovered using a culture system and confirmed by observing depletion of AdoMet in the plasma of infected animals. Depletion also occurs in patients with Pneumocystis pneumonia (PcP), a phenomenon suggested as a basis for a method for diagnosis and evaluation of response to therapy. Preliminary data indicate that deliberate reduction of host lung AdoMet by nicotine treatment is therapeutic in the rat model of Pneumocystis pneumonia.