Autoantibodies neutralizing GM-CSF in HIV-negative Colombian patients infected with Cryptococcus gattii and C. neoformans.

Background: Cryptococcosis is a life-threatening disease caused by Cryptococcus neoformans or C. gattii . Autoantibodies (auto-Abs) neutralizing granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in otherwise healthy adults with cryptococcal meningitis have been described since 2013. We searched for neutralizing auto-Abs in sera from Colombian patients with non-HIV related cryptococcosis in a retrospective national cohort collected from 1997 to 2016.
Methods: We reviewed clinical and laboratory records and assessed the presence of neutralizing auto-Abs in 30 HIV (-) adults presenting cryptococcosis (13 by C. gattii , and 17 by C. neoformans ).
Results: We detected auto-Abs neutralizing GM-CSF in the plasma of 9 out of 13 (69%) patients infected with C. gattii and 1 out of 17 (6%) patients with C. neoformans .
Conclusions: We report ten Colombian patients with cryptococcosis due to auto-Abs neutralizing GM-CSF. Nine of the ten patients were infected with C. gattii , and only one with C. neoformans .
Competing Interests: Potential conflicts of interest. The authors do not reported conflicts of interest. A.A.A, C.A.A.F, A.P, J.-L.C, J.L.F, J.R.S, J.L, C.I.A, C.F and E.C conceived the research. C.I.A, J.L and E.C collect the samples. C.A.A.F designed and performed the experiments. A.A.A, C.A.A.F, J.R.S, C.F, C.I.A, J.L and E.C interpreted and analyze data, wrote the manuscript, generated figures, and tables. All the authors discussed and reviewed the manuscript and approved its submission. The authors have no competing interest to declare.