Pneumocystis

Abstract

Pneumocystis is an opportunistic fungal pathogen most prevalent in HIV+ individuals. Despite a significant reduction in the incidence of Pneumocystis pneumonia following the advent of highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART), Pneumocystis remains the number one AIDS-defining illness. The host response to Pneumocystis involves a fine balance between cellular activation leading to organism clearance and lung injury associated with the immune response. This review will focus on the innate and adaptive cellular immune responses to Pneumocystis infection, specifically, immune recognition, clearance of infection and resolution of inflammation will be discussed