DIAGNÓSTICO LABORATORIAL DA ASPERGILOSE INVASIVA UTILIZANDO MÉTODOS NÃO CULTURAIS PARA A DETECÇÃO DE Aspergillus

Abstract

Fungi are very common in nature and have the potential to colonize different surfaces of the human mucosa. When entering these mucous membranes, they are able to avoid the host's defense mechanisms. Invasive fungal diseases, especially invasive aspergillosis, cause a large portion of morbidity and mortality among immunocompromised children and adults. Definitive diagnosis of UA is challenging and requires visualization of the organism in tissue or its microbiological detection in a sterile compartment. In daily clinical practice, the diagnosis of UA is primarily made by appropriate imaging studies and diagnostic biomarkers in blood and other available specimens. The aim of the study was to review scientific articles on non-cultural methods used to detect Aspergillus components in the laboratory diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis. A narrative review was carried out, aiming to identify published data on the non-culture-based diagnosis of Aspergillus, in order to generate greater clarification regarding different methods that can be applied for this purpose. Bibliographical research was carried out in the portals of the periodicals Capes, Scielo Brasil and PubMed, Google Academic, publications in books, dissertations and theses. The research interval comprised the period between 2011 and 2021. Non-culture-based methods are essential for a rapid diagnosis of invasive fungal diseases and include assays based on the detection of fungal antigens (GM, lateral flow device, PCR, among others). These tests are generally applied to the diagnosis of AI and other conditions, some with unique effective performance, others with excellent results when combined with each other. Non-cultural methods have been more commonly evaluated over the years, with the authors believing that they have high specificity and sensitivity, many of them with low costs and easy access in different laboratories.