- Copyright © 2024 Marshfield Clinic Health System
Clinical Presentation of Blastomycosis is Associated With Infecting Species, Not Host Genotype
- Alexandra M. Linz, PhD*⇑,
- Holly M. Frost, MD†,
- Terrie Kitchner*,
- Jennifer L. Anderson, BS‡ and
- Jennifer Meece, PhD*
- *Marshfield Clinic Research Institute, Marshfield, WI USA
- †Department of Pediatrics, Denver Health and Hospital Authority, Denver, CO USA; Center for Health Services Research, Denver Health and Hospital Authority, Denver, CO USA; Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO USA; ORCID: 0000-0002-3016-3287
- ‡Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI USA
- Corresponding Author:
Alexandra Linz, PhD, Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation, 1000 N Oak Ave, Marshfield, WI 54449, Email: linz.alexandra{at}marshfieldclinic.org
Abstract
Objective: To determine if host genetics may be a risk factor for severe blastomycosis.
Design: A cohort of patients who had contracted blastomycosis underwent targeted SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) genotyping. The genetics of these patients were compared to a set of age and gender-matched controls and between patients with severe versus mild to moderate blastomycosis.
Setting: The Marshfield Clinic Health System in central and northern Wisconsin
Participants: Patients with a diagnosis of blastomycosis prior to 2017 were contacted for enrollment in this study. A phone hotline was also set up to allow interested participants from outside the Marshfield Clinic Health System to request enrollment.
Methods: SNP frequency was assessed for significant differences between the patient cohort and controls and between patients with severe versus mild to moderate blastomycosis. We also tested the effect of Blastomyces species identified in clinical isolates on disease symptoms and severity.
Results: No significant differences were found in SNP frequency between cases and controls or between those with severe or mild to moderate blastomycosis. We did detect significant differences in symptom frequency and disease severity by Blastomyces species.
Conclusions: Our study did not identify any genetic risk factors for blastomycosis. Instead, the species of Blastomyces causing the infection had a significant effect on disease severity.
Footnotes
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Financial support: This work was support by the Frank and Betty Koller Award and the Koller Endowment. Funding was also provided by the Marshfield Clinic Health System Foundation. Dr. Frost received salary support from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number K23HD099925. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
