Mold-Help.org - The world's largest TOXIC MOLD website
  • Mold Basics
    • Mold Overview
    • Mold Symptoms
    • Mold Types & Images
    • Fungal Infections
  • Resources and Tools
    • Home Care
    • Health & Diet
    • Tips for Parents
    • Coping with Loss
    • Private Research
    • Legal Suggestions
    • Mold in the Bible
  • Mold News
    • Current Headlines
    • “Sick Buildings”
    • The Environment
    • Construction Industry
    • Govt. & Politics
    • The Workplace
    • Landlords & Tenants
    • Insurance Companies
    • Schools & Institutions
    • Strange Fungal Tales
    • Personal Mold Stories
    • Additional Articles
  • Agencies & Experts
  • About Mold-Help
    • Mold-Help News
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
  • X
  • Facebook

Light Therapy May Help with Fungal Infections

in Private Research /by Carolyn Willbanks

Durham, NC – A newly discovered mechanism by which an infectious fungus perceives light also plays an important role in its virulence, according to Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigators at Duke University Medical Center. The findings suggest that changes in light following fungal invasion of the human body may be an important and previously overlooked cue that sparks infection, the researchers said.

The discovery in the human pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans further suggests that light therapy, in combination with anti-fungal drug treatments, might offer an effective method to combat a variety of fungal infections, particularly those of the skin or nails, said HHMI investigator Joseph Heitman, M.D., James B. Duke professor of molecular genetics and microbiology and medicine at Duke.

Light therapy is now used for medical conditions, such as seasonal affective disorder. The most common method, called bright-light therapy, requires that patients sit near a special light box fitted with high-intensity, full-spectrum or white light bulbs. UV irradiation is also used to repigment skin affected by the autoimmune disorder vitiligo.

The findings also have important implications for understanding early fungal evolution, Heitman and study lead author Alexander Idnurm, Ph.D., reported in a forthcoming issue of Public Library of Science Biology, published online March 15, 2005. The National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund supported the research.

The potentially life-threatening fungus C. neoformans invades the central nervous system to cause disease, most commonly in patients who lack a functioning immune system, such as organ transplant recipients, those with HIV/AIDS, and patients treated with steroids or cancer chemotherapy. The fungus’ global importance as a health threat has therefore risen in parallel with the increase in immunosuppressive therapies and the worldwide HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Light normally inhibits mating of C. neoformans. The Duke team has now identified two genes responsible for that light response. Loss of the same genes also reduces fungal virulence in mice, they reported.

Earlier studies had linked the genes to light-sensing in another distantly related fungal lineage, an indication that the fungal light sensor arose early in evolution and may be shared by many extant fungal species. Other well-studied fungi, such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, or baker’s yeast, have apparently lost their ability to sense light, Heitman said, and have neither of the conserved light-sensing proteins.

“Fungi have many negative implications for human life as they lead to human disease, as well as plant disease and mold,” said Idnurm, a post-doctoral fellow at Duke. “However, fungi also play important beneficial roles, for example, as a source of food and pharmaceuticals.

“Therefore, an understanding of the role of environmental signals such as light in fungal development is vital to increase the benefits and decrease the costs that fungi present.”

The researchers first tested the importance of genes with known roles in light sensitivity of another, distantly related fungus. Yeast strains lacking one of those genes, known as white collar 1 (BWC1), mated equally well in the light or the dark, implicating that gene in the fungus’ ability to sense light. BWC1 also functions in the fungus’ resistance to ultraviolet light, they reported. Further study identified a second, related gene, BWC2, that is also required for C. neoformans normal response to both blue and ultraviolet light.

Moreover, the researchers found, mice inoculated with C. neoformans lacking either of the light-sensing genes remained healthy 30 days later, while those infected with the normal fungus died by day 30.

The finding points to novel virulence pathways, Heitman said, as the BWC1 and BWC2 mutants were not impaired for any of the characteristics previously linked to virulence.

“The genes required for light sensing, while not essential for virulence, do contribute to the rapidity with which the fungus causes lethal infection in the mammalian host,” Heitman said. “It is therefore conceivable that light could be used as a therapy for fungal infections, particularly infections at the body surface, such as those of skin or nails.” Laser therapy might also be possible for certain fungal sinus infections, he added.

The finding that Cryptococcus shares its light-sensing mechanism with other distantly related fungi also has important implications for understanding fungal evolution, Heitman said. The researchers speculate that evolution of these light-sensing genes more than 400 million years ago may have had major significance for fungal colonization of land, at a time when UV irradiation was particularly intense.

Tags: mold, mold illness, UV light, fungal disease
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on X
  • Share on X
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
https://www.mold-help.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/moldhelp-654x300.png 0 0 Carolyn Willbanks https://www.mold-help.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/moldhelp-654x300.png Carolyn Willbanks2006-01-03 21:50:372019-03-08 21:44:03Light Therapy May Help with Fungal Infections
You might also like
Moldy police stationlehighvalleylive.com Phillipsburg Cops Wanted Out of Moldy Building by Mid-March.
Mold-Help logo Guest Commentaries, Stories, and Ideas Welcome
Mold-Help logo Mold: 5 Reasons Why It Is Not the 'Next Asbestos'
Mold-Help logo Parents Outraged after Video Shows Moldy Food Served to Shelby County Students
Mold-Help logo Insurance companies worried about profits and losses
Hurricane damage with keep out signpixabay.com Hurricane Dorian Cleanup Stalls in North Carolina

Resources & Tools

  • Private Research
  • Coping with Loss
  • Spiritual Definition
  • Legal Suggestions
  • Home Care
  • Tips for Parents
  • Health & Diet

Latest Posts

  • Michigan Family Finds Toxic Mold Inside Home
  • California Winter Storms: Water Damage and Mold Exposure Concerns in California
  • Office and Commercial Buildings at Risk for Mold after COVID-19 Closings
  • COVID-19 Symptoms May Include Loss of Taste and Smell
  • New Mold Detox Information on the Horizon
  • COVID-19 Courses of Action
  • Stachybotrys
  • Simple and Easy Ways to Prevent the Coronavirus
  • Your Air Conditioning Unit Helps Eliminate Mold
  • Construction Workers Are Learning to Control Dust and Debris

Search Our Site:

Need Help with Mold?

Are you being affected by mold or other mycotoxins in your environment? Our team and community has over 15 years experience and can provide guidance. You can reach us by submitting your contact or through our Facebook page.

Have a Story to Share?

We're looking for stories and input to expand our database and to add to the personal experiences we've received from the thousands of victims over the last 15. If mold has impacted your life, please take the time to share your story. Your information is confidential and will only be shared with your permission.

Seeking Mold Experts

Are you an expert in the treatment of mold-affected health illnesses, or a provider of services to victims of mycotoxin exposure? Submit your information for listing consideration in our Agencies & Experts resource database.

Additional Resources

  • Contact Us
  • Sitemap
  • Glossary of Terms
  • Survivor Resources
  • General Inquiries
  • Legal Disclaimer

© Copyright - Mold-Help Organization
  • X
  • Facebook
  • Mold Basics
  • Resources and Tools
  • Agencies & Experts
  • Mold News
  • About Mold-Help
Scroll to top

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

OKLearn more

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Accept settingsHide notification only