Penicillium citrinum: Opportunistic pathogen or idle bystander? A case analysis with demonstration of galactomannan cross-reactivity

Shayla E Hesse; Paul M Luethy; John H Beigel; Adrian M Zelazny

doi:10.1016/j.mmcr.2017.05.003

Penicillium citrinum: Opportunistic pathogen or idle bystander? A case analysis with demonstration of galactomannan cross-reactivity

Med Mycol Case Rep. 2017 May 22:17:8-10. doi: 10.1016/j.mmcr.2017.05.003. eCollection 2017 Sep.

Authors

Shayla E Hesse¹, Paul M Luethy², John H Beigel³, Adrian M Zelazny²

Affiliations

¹ National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
² Department of Laboratory Medicine, National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, Bethesda, MD, USA.
³ Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD, USA.

Abstract

We present a case of an immunocompromised woman with fever, pulmonary infiltrates and multiple bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cultures positive for Penicillium citrinum with a concomitant high BAL galactomannan level. We report the results of Aspergillus galactomannan testing performed on culture supernatants from her P. citrinum strain that confirmed the suspected cross-reactivity. Finally, we discuss the clinical significance and antifungal susceptibility of P. citrinum in our case and review the literature.

Keywords: Aspergillus antigen; Galactomannan; Penicillium citrinum.