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Absence of Dihydropteroate Synthase Mutations in Pneumocystis jirovecii from Brazilian AIDS Patients
Author(s) -
WISSMANN GUSTAVO,
ALVAREZMARTINEZ MÍRIAM J.,
MESHNICK STEVEN R.,
DIHEL ADA R. S.,
PROLLA JOÃO C.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of eukaryotic microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.067
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1550-7408
pISSN - 1066-5234
DOI - 10.1111/j.1550-7408.2006.00104.x
Subject(s) - dihydropteroate synthase , dhps , pneumocystis jirovecii , biology , pneumocystis pneumonia , virology , giemsa stain , locus (genetics) , trimethoprim , pneumocystis carinii , sulfamethoxazole , gene mutation , gene , genetics , immunology , mutation , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , pyrimethamine , antibiotics , malaria , plasmodium falciparum
. Several studies from developed countries have documented the association between trimethoprim‐sulfamethoxazole prophylaxis failure and mutations in the Pneumocystis jirovecii gene coding for dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS). DNA was extracted from Giemsa‐stained smears of 70 patients with P. jirovecii pneumonia seen in Porto Alegre, Brazil, from 1997 to 2004. Successful PCR amplification of the DHPS locus was obtained in 57 of 70 cases (81.4%), including five cases (8.7%) that had used sulfa prophylaxis. No DHPS gene mutations were seen. These results suggest that DHPS mutations are currently as rare in Brazil as in other developing countries.