Table 2.
Role of immune cells during PCP on fungal load and outcome of the disease.
| Addition | Impact on the Fungal Load | Impact on Lung Inflammation and Clinical Course |
|---|---|---|
| T lymphocytes | Required for clearance ‡ [142] | Induce inflammation ‡ [9,142] Good prognosis marker † [111] |
| TCD4 lymphocytes | Required for clearance ‡ [109,110] | Induce inflammation ‡ [103,109] Good prognosis marker † [111] |
| TCD8 lymphocytes | Not required for clearance Reduction of the fungal load but insufficient for clearance ‡ [8,123] |
Induce inflammation ‡ [95,125] Good prognosis marker † [111] |
| B lymphocytes | / | / |
| Th1 TCD4 Lymphocytes | Reduction of the fungal load ‡ [7,113,114] | Induce inflammation ‡ [109] Good prognosis marker † [116] |
| Th2 TCD4 Lymphocytes | / | Noxious if overproduction of mucus or evolution towards fibrosis ‡,† [32,117,118] |
| Th17 TCD4 Lymphocytes | / | / |
| Regulators TCD4 lymphocytes | No modification of the fungal load ‡ [30,119,120] | Reduction of inflammation ‡ [30,119,120] |
| Cytotoxic Tc1 CD8 lymphocytes | Reduction of the fungal load ‡ [46] | Reduction of inflammation ‡ [46] Good prognosis marker † [116] |
| Humoral response | Reduction of the fungal load but insufficient for clearance ‡ [110,130] Antibody opsonisation with macrophages ‡ [131] |
Reduction of inflammation ‡ [110,130] |
| NK lymphocytes | / | Good prognosis marker † [111] |
| Macrophages | Reduction of the fungal load ‡ [134] M1 and M2 polarisation are fungicide ‡ [43,135] |
M1 polarisation induces more inflammation than M2 polarisation ‡ [43,135,137] |
| Neutrophils | No modification of the fungal load ‡ [91] | Bad prognosis marker if large PMN infiltration † [138,139,140] No direct toxicity demonstrated ‡ [91] |
| Eosinophils | Reduction of the fungal load ‡ [45] | / |
‡: data in rodents; †: data in humans.