Case Report
Cryptococcus neoformans meningitis in a diabetic patient - the perils of an overzealous immune response: a case report
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* Corresponding author: Anurag Kushawaha anurag_rk@hotmail.com
1 Department of Medicine, Staten Island University Hospital, Staten Island (NYC), USA
2 Division of Infectious Diseases, Staten Island University Hospital, Staten Island (NYC), USA
3 Division of Hospitalists, Staten Island University Hospital, Staten Island (NYC), USA
Cases Journal 2009, 2:209 doi:10.1186/1757-1626-2-209
Published: 19 November 2009Abstract
Uncontrolled diabetics are prone to infections due to numerous factors as the glucose-rich blood serves as an excellent media for growth. Cryptococcus neoformans is an opportunistic fungus that is an important cause of CNS infections among immunocompromised patients, but it has only sporadically been reported in non-HIV-positive persons. The presence of elevated pro-inflammatory cytokines and abnormalities in numerous systemic indicators of inflammation in diabetics makes it conceivable that diabetics mount an exaggerated immune response to C. neoformans (paradoxical to their defective immune state) leading to grave outcomes. We present a fatal case of C. neoformans meningitis in a diabetic patient which emphasizes the perils of an overzealous immune response.