New name Pneumocystis carinii - Pneumocystis jiroveci
The specific name of the causative agent of Pneumocystis pneumonia - Pneumocystis carinii has changed to Pneumocystis jiroveci.
The specific name of the agent responsible for Pneumocystis pneumonia - Pneumocystis carinii is changed to Pneumocystis jiroveci. An article produced jointly by microbiologists from the University of Cincinnati and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and University College London and the University of Oxford in Great Britain and published in the September issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases the story of the study of this unusual microorganism and the reasons for the change of name of the causative agent of infection in humans 'man.
Pneumonia caused by Pneumocystis carinii is a common disease and one of the leading causes of death in immunocompromised patients. Although the genus Pneumocystis was discovered almost a century ago, for a long time the biological characteristics of its representatives have not been well understood by microbiology scientists. The history of the study of P.carinii is full of unexpected discoveries and abrupt changes of view on the nature of this pathogen.
Initially, P.carinii was assigned to the class of protozoa when it was first described in the lungs of mammals by the famous Brazilian doctor C. Chagas in 1909. The microorganism has been named the causative agent of Chagas disease and considered one of the morphological forms of development Trypanosoma cruzi. Later, in 1912, F. Delanoe proved that the microorganism described by Chagas is not a stage of development of the American trypanosome and proposed to separate it into a separate species Pneumocystis carinii ( in honor of researcher-microbiologist Carini).
However, over time it has become clear that this microorganism, in its biological properties, is more like yeast-like fungi, which are plant pathogens, than protozoa. This was finally proven in 1988, when DNA analysis determined that P.carinii is a fungal pathogen, despite the absence of ergosterol in the cell wall and the difficulty of cultivation. the microorganism in the laboratory.
In addition, analysis of nucleotide sequences in DNA has shown that representatives of the genus Pneumocystis, isolated from various host macro-organisms, are characterized by significant variability in the structure of DNA.. Consequently, different species of the genus Pneumocystis cause disease in various species of animals and humans, which led to the introduction in 1994 of a trinomial nomenclature, including not only the name of the genus and the species. , but also the host name in Latin (for example, Pneumocystis carinii hominis).
Currently, the name of the causative agent of Pneumocystis pneumonia - Pneumocystis carinii is changed to Pneumocystis jiroveci in honor of the Czech parasitologist Otto Jirovec who described for first time this microorganism as a cause of disease in humans. The abbreviation PCP (P neumocystis C arinii P neumonia) is generally accepted for pneumocystic pneumonia in the English scientific medical literature, it has been decided to leave it unchanged, understand how (P neumo with ystis P neumonia).