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FUNGAL PATHOGENESIS

Malassezia restricta plays CARDs in the gut

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 17, pages 266–267 (2019)Cite this article

The intestinal mycobiome has been suggested to have a role in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease, but data are scarce. An S12N polymorphism in the gene encoding CARD9 (CARD9S12N), a signalling adaptor essential for anti-fungal innate immunity, is a risk factor for Crohn’s disease. Limon et al. now suggest that, in patients with Crohn’s disease and CARD9S12N, the commensal skin yeast Malassezia restricta associates with the intestinal wall and also that it promotes the production of inflammatory cytokines in myeloid phagocytes in a CARD9-dependent manner.

As Malassezia were present in the gut as 65% M. restricta and 34% M. globosa, the authors investigated the inflammatory activities of M. restricta. Treating pathogen-free mice with M. restricta exacerbated dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis, as judged by shortening of the colon, worsening of disease activity and increased intestinal inflammation. M. restricta appears to exacerbate disease without altering the gut microbiota as, in germ-free mice colonized with eight specific bacterial species, it did so without altering the relative level of any of the bacteria. As exposure of human or mouse dendritic cells to dead M. restricta evoked a stronger inflammatory response per organism than exposure to control fungi, M. restricta may directly activate immune responses in the gut.

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References

Original article

  • Limon, J. J. et al. Malassezia is associated with Crohn’s disease and exacerbates colitis in mouse models. Cell Host Microbe 25, 1–12 (2019)

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Further reading

  • Nilsson, R. H. et al. Mycobiome diversity: high-throughput sequencing and identification of fungi. Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 17, 95–109 (2019)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

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  1. Nature Reviews Microbiology http://www.nature.com/nrmicro/

    Katharine H. Wrighton

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  1. Katharine H. Wrighton
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Correspondence to Katharine H. Wrighton.

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Wrighton, K.H. Malassezia restricta plays CARDs in the gut. Nat Rev Microbiol 17, 266–267 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-019-0188-3

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