Detailed characterisation of invasive aspergillosis in a murine model of X-linked chronic granulomatous disease shows new insights in infections caused by versus .

Introduction: Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is the most prevalent infectious complication in patients with chronic granulomatous disease (CGD). Yet, understanding of fungal pathogenesis in the CGD host remains limited, particularly with regards to infection.

Methods: We have used a murine model of X-linked CGD to investigate how the pathogenesis of IA varies between and , comparing infection in both X-linked CGD (gp91) mice and their parent C57BL/6 (WT) mice. A 14-colour flow cytometry panel was used to assess the cell dynamics over the course of infection, with parallel assessment of pulmonary cytokine production and lung histology.

Results: We observed a lack of association between pulmonary pathology and infection outcome in gp91 mice, with no significant mortality in infected mice. An overwhelming and persistent neutrophil recruitment and IL-1 release in gp91 mice following both and infection was observed, with divergent macrophage, dendritic cell and eosinophil responses and distinct cytokine profiles between the two infections.

Conclusion: We have provided an in-depth characterisation of the immune response to pulmonary aspergillosis in an X-linked CGD murine model. This provides the first description of distinct pulmonary inflammatory environments in and infection in X-linked CGD and identifies several new avenues for further research.