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Melanin pigments are substances produced by a broad variety of pathogenic microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, and helminths. Microbes predominantly produce melanin pigment via tyrosinases, laccases, catecholases, and the polyketide synthase pathway. In fungi, melanin is deposited in the cell wall and cytoplasm, and melanin particles ("ghosts") can be isolated from these fungi that have the same size and shape of the original cells. Melanin has been reported in several human pathogenic dimorphic fungi including Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, Sporothrix schenckii, Histoplasma capsulatum, Blastomyces dermatitidis, and Coccidioides posadasii. Melanization appears to contribute to virulence by reducing the susceptibility of melanized fungi to host defense mechanisms and antifungal drugs.

Stability of virulence in P. brasiliensis isolates was studied with respect to the in vitro culture history and methods used for storage. Virulence in yeast-form P. brasiliensis isolates was tested in a chronic pulmonary murine model of paracoccidiodomycosis where progression of disease was quantitated in terms of colony forming units recoverable from lungs. Four isolates of P. brasiliensis, including recently isolated form patients or experimental animals, caused chronic progressive disease. Two isolates with a history of subculturing showed attenuation by causing resolving but chronic disease. An attenuated isolate became avirulent subsequent to 15 more years of subculturing. These findings suggest that virulence of P. brasiliensis can be attenuated or lost subsequent to cycles of subculturing over long periods. Our data suggest that the use of fresh P. brasiliensis isolates may be needed to provide reproducible virulence for experimental systems.

A viewpoint of host-parasite relationships in paracoccidioidomycosis is presented. The characteristics of the fungus which are important to the host-parasite interaction are discussed. Aspects of inhibition of mycelium-to-yeast transformation by estrogens acting at receptors on the fungal wall and in the cytoplasm, and the role of polysaccharide components of the cell wall in virulence are reviewed. The natural mechanisms of host defense are also examined, including phagocytosis, complement system, natural-killer cells and genetic control of resistance and susceptibility. Finally, a discussion of granuloma morphogenesis and its relationship to the humoral and cellular anti-P. brasiliensis immune response is presented.

The yeast-like forms of six P. brasiliensis strains were characterized and compared using in vitro (growth curve determination) and in vivo (pathogenicity to sensitive inbred mice) criteria. Strains Pb 18 and Pb 265 which behaved similarly in vitro, showing low counts of fungi and long mean generation times, were respectively the most and the least pathogenic strains. Strains Pb 2052 and IVIC Pb 267, which grow abundantly in vitro were, respectively virulent and avirulent. Strains Pb SN and IVIC Pb 9 behaved similarly both in vitro and in vivo displaying an intermediate pattern of virulence and growing conditions.

The influx of inflammatory cells towards the peritoneal cavity in rats inoculated intraperitoneally with subcellular preparations of the fungus Paracoccidioides brasiliensis was studied. In addition to the dead fungus, also fractions F1 of the cell wall, which mainly consisted of polysaccharides and the lipid extract, induced intense cell migration 4 hr after inoculation, with a greatly increased number of polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMN). Study of the kinetics of cell influx showed that both fraction F1 and the lipid extract initially induced intense PMN migration between the 4th and 24th hr after inoculation of these agents, followed by migration of mononuclear cells (MN) around the 48th hr. We also observed that migration of these cells increased gradually after inoculation of growing doses of fraction F1. The present data suggest that polysaccharides and lipids isolated from P. brasiliensis may participate in the initial phase of the inflammatory response in paracoccidioidomycosis.

Paracoccidioides brasiliensis (ATCC 60885) produces conidia that, when plated in enriched media and incubated at 21-25 degrees C, give rise to a yeast-form variant (YRT) (ATCC 46678). The virulence of this variant for BALB/c mice has been compared with that of the yeast and conidia produced by the parent isolate. Adult female mice were inoculated intravenously with 10(7) viable cells of YRT or yeast, or 5 x 10(5) viable conidia. Mice were weighed weekly, and three mice were sacrificed at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 8 weeks post-inoculation and their organs weighed and prepared for determination of viable counts (colony forming units; c.f.u.). Animals infected with yeast cells or with conidia exhibited little weight loss in comparison with that seen in the YRT-infected mice which began to lose weight 1 week post-challenge. Organ weights increased in the YRT group, while the changes in the remaining two groups were minor. The c.f.u. from these organs also increased in the YRT-infected mice, whereas the infection in the yeast-and conidia-infected mice was self-limiting. A proportion (16.6%) of the YRT-infected animals died during the observation period. Conversely, no deaths occurred in the remaining groups. These results indicate that the YRT variant possesses increased virulence.

In this investigation the pathogenicity and immunogenicity of seven isolates of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis were compared. The pathogenicity of each isolate was determined by 50% lethal dose estimations and histopathology analysed during a 24-week-period. Four basic patterns of virulence could be defined after intraperitoneal infection of susceptible, genetically homogenous, B10.A mice, namely, slightly virulent (isolates Pb 265 and IVIC Pb 267), intermediate (isolates Pb 192, IVIC Pb 9 and Pb SN), virulent (isolate Pb 2052) and highly virulent (isolate Pb 18). The granulomas induced by the individual isolates were similar although the evolution of inflammation and the organs affected varied according to the isolate used. The immunogenicity of each P. brasiliensis isolate was evaluated by measuring IgG titres with an ELISA method. The intermediate and the slightly virulent isolates induced weak antibody production whereas isolates Pb 18 and Pb 2052 induced stronger specific humoral responses. Differences in the kinetics of antibody production elicited by the different fungal isolates were also observed.

The course of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis infection depends on the natural resistance of the host and on the virulence of the fungus isolate. In the present study the immune response to sheep red blood cells (SRBC) was investigated in susceptible (B10.A) and resistant (A/SN) mice after intraperitoneal (ip) infection with pathogenic (Pb18) and apathogenic (IVIC Pb267) P. brasiliensis isolates. Infection with Pb18 yeast cells quickly induces a state of immunodepression only in the susceptible mice. This immunosuppression was not observed when mice were inoculated with IVIC Pb267 yeast.