Abstract
Studies on Pneumocystis jirovecii dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS) genotypes among non-HIV immunocompromised patients from developing countries are rare. In the present prospective investigation, 24 (11.8%) cases were found to be positive for Pneumocystis jirovecii out of 203 non-HIV patients with a clinical suspicion of Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP). Dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS) genotype 1 (Thr55+Pro57) was noted in 95.8% P. jirovecii isolates in the present study in contrast to only 4.1% of patients with DHPS genotype 4 (Thr55Ala + Pro57Ser).
Acknowledgements
We thank all patients who enrolled in this study for their co-operation and Dr Philippe Hauser, CHUV, Switzerland, for providing Pneumocystis jirovecii isolates DNA which were used in the standardization of PCR. The study was supported by a financial grant from the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, New Delhi. First author, Mr Anuj Kumar Tyagi received a fellowship grant from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Department of Health Research, Government of India, New Delhi to carry out the present study.
Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and the writing of the paper.
This paper was first published online on Early Online on 20 August 2010.