Immune responses in histoplasmosis, a prototype of respiratory mycoses.

The cellular and molecular mechanisms of host defenses to histoplasmosis, a prototype of respiratory fungal infections are described. Although, cell-mediated acquired immunity is considered as a hallmark of protective immunity to histoplasmosis, the recent findings provide mounting evidence on the importance of natural cellular immunity in host resistance to fungal infections. The natural immunity to Histoplasma capsulatum infection is primarily mediated by natural killer cells, endothelial cells and platelets but mechanisms of intercellular communication and their interactions with the pathogen are not clearly defined.