Experimental paracoccidioidomycosis

Abstract

Paracoccidioidomycosis seems to be primarily a disease of man, in whom it runs a variable course and often with prolonged periods of incubation. Hamsters were introduced as experimental animals for the study of paracoccidioidomycosis by Guimaraes, who inoculated the fungus by the testicular route and was able to reproduce lesions similar to those of the progressive human disease. The mouse is the species most often utilized in experimental research in paracoccidioidomycosis. The intraperitoneal route has been widely used in the study of paracoccidioidomycosis in isogenic mice. Calich et al. have published a large body of information related to host factors that influence the outcome of the disease in mice. Guinea pigs were the animals most frequently used for the study of experimental paracoccidioidomycosis up to the early 1970s and were, also, the first animal species in which the experimental infection proved successful.