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Updated: Aug 23, 2026

Macrophage Cholesterol Depletion and Its Effect on the Phagocytosis of Cryptococcus neoformans
Published on: December 19, 2014
[Disseminated pulmonary infection due to Cryptococcus neoformans in a non immunocompromised patient]
Véronique Hofman1, Nicolas Venissac, Christine Mouroux
1Laboratoire de Pathologie Clinique et Expérimentale, Hôpital Pasteur, Nice. hofman@unice.fr
Abstract:
We report a case of a primary pulmonary infection due to Cryptococcus neoformans developed in a 40 Year old immunocompetent and HIV negative man. Radiologic findings consisted in diffuse, bilateral reticular and nodular opacities. Bronchoscopy was normal and bronchoalveolar lavage showed numerous macrophages without associated pathogens. A thoracovideoscopy with an open lung biopsy showed numerous cryptococci, free in the alveoli or located within the macrophages. They were associated with an inflammatory infiltrate in the interalveolar spaces, predominantly composed of mononuclear cells. Ultrastructural study showed yeasts with numerous intracytoplasmic organites, a nucleus, a wall and a thick capsule. Pulmonary cryptococcosis is rare in immunocompetent hosts and can be difficult to diagnose since clinicoradiologic features observed in this cryptococcal infection mimic other infectious or neoplastic diseases.
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