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Science 5 April 1968:
Vol. 160. no. 3823, pp. 79 - 81
DOI: 10.1126/science.160.3823.79
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Articles

Lysosomal Stability during Phagocytosis of Aspergillus flavus Spores by Alveolar Macrophages of Cortisone-Treated Mice

Leonard Merkow 1, Matias Pardo 1, Sheldon M. Epstein 2, Ethel Verney 2, and Herschel Sidransky 2

1 Department of Experimental Pathology, William H. Singer Memorial Research Institute, Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
2 Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh

Control mice and those treated with cortisone were exposed to aerosols of viable spores of Aspergillus flavus. Fifteen to 20 minutes later, animals were killed, and alveolar macrophages were obtained by tracheobronchial lavage. Electron-microscopic examination of these cells revealed that, whereas the lysosomes of control macrophages showed extensive attraction and fusion with the phagocytic membranes surrounding spores, the lysosomes of macrophages from animals treated with cortisone revealed little, if any, interaction. This diminished lysosomal response in forming phagocytic vacuoles may be important in the subsequent development of hyphal bronchopneumonia which frequently, occurs in cortisonetreated mice exposed to spores of A. flavus.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Aspergillus fumigatus and Aspergillosis.
J.-P. Latge (1999)
Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 12, 310-350
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Invasive Aspergillosis Complicating Cushing's Syndrome.
T. J. Walsh and G. Mendelsohn (1981)
Arch Intern Med 141, 1227-1228
   Abstract »    PDF »


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)