Selection of reviews – April 2020

Submitted by Aspergillus Administrator on 5 May 2020

Here’s our choice of review article highlights this month.Treatment of allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis: from evidence to practice (Dhooria et al., 2020) This review illustrates the treatment pathway for ABPA in different situations, using a case-based approach. In each case, the options for treatment based on the available evidence from recent clinical trials is presented.

Detecting azole-antifungal resistance in Aspergillus fumigatus by pyrosequencing (van der Torre et al., 2020)Failure to detect azole-resistance dramatically increases the mortality rates of azole-treated patients. Despite drug susceptibility tests not being routinely performed currently, the authors of this review suggest including resistance testing whilst diagnosing Aspergillus disease. It also describes current diagnostic methods and highlights the potential of pyrosequencing to aid in a diagnosis complete with a resistance profile to improve clinical outcomes.

Role of lipid transporters in fungal physiology and pathogenicity (Rizzo et al., 2019)This review focuses on the structural and biological aspects of ATP-driven lipid transporters, comprising P-type ATPases and ATP-binding cassette transporters, (ii) the role of these transporters in fungal physiology and virulence, and (iii) the potential of lipid transporters as targets for the development of novel antifungals. These recent observations indicate that the lipid-trafficking machinery in fungi is a promising target for studies on physiology, pathogenesis and drug development.