Experimental Studies on Bronchomonoliasis

Abstract

Infection of the respiratory tract by pathogenic monilia gives rise to the disease entity designated bronchomonoliasis. The first report on record of this disease was given by Castellani 1 from Ceylon. In this country it was primarily reported by Boggs and Pincoffs. 2 Flinn 3 reported 9 cases. Monoliasis is no longer considered endemic in the tropics since it is now being reported with increasing frequency from all parts of the world.

With a strain of Monilia albicans isolated from a proven case of bronchomycosis we injected rabbits intravenously, intraäbdominally, intratracheally and directly into the lung parenchyma with varying doses of the recovered culture. The routes, other than intravenous, proved either inconsistent in their effects or the animals remained apparently normal. As the intravenous method of inoculation yielded constant results, this route was employed as the method of choice. The dosage was measured according to the method of Stovall. 4

No lesions have been described which are specific or pathognomonic of bronchomonoliasis. It is, however, generally agreed that the gross appearance of the lesions resembles tuberculosis. Mendelson 5 pointed out that the lesions are, in reality, mycotic tumors and as a rule show no signs of breaking down. Ikeda 6 found miliary cortical abscesses of the kidney to be the most conspicuous finding in animals injected by various routes.

In the present work the injected rabbits were divided into 2 series.

Series I: These animals were given the lethal dose of Monilia albicans intravenously as established by Stovall, 4 and died within 24 to 48 hours. The lesions found at autopsy were usually in the periphery of the liver, kidney or lung. While the gross appearance of the small nodules resembled miliary tubercle formation, the histopathology, however, consisted of central necrosis with polymorphonuclear neutrophilic and slight lymphoid cellular reaction at the periphery.