[Experimental paracoccidioidomycosis in the mice induced intransally]

A study was undertaken to determine the possibility of inducing paracoccidioidomycosis in mice exposed to the mycelial phase of P. brasiliensis. Two strains of the fungus, designated FG and LA, were grown separately in media favoring the production of spores by the mycelial phase. These were collected and used for nasal instillation of 328 cortisone treated-mice. Animals were observed for a period of 16 weeks and sacrificed periodically. Pulmonary infection was obtained in 38.1% of the animals, with dissemination to spleen and liver occurring in 14.3% of the cases. The infection was not lethal. One of the strains (LA) proved to be move virulent than the other inducing a more severe type of pulmonary infection. The result of the study indicate that the mycelial phase of P. brasiliensis can give rise, by the inhalatory route, to active murine infections.