Establishment of a murine model for infection by Cladosporium carrionii.

Abstract

：Objective To develop amurine model for infection by Cladosporium carrioni. Methods A total of 72 ICR mice wereequally divided into 4 groups, group A (healthy mice inoculated by C. Carrioni suspensionof 1 × 108 cfu conidia mL-1, group B (immune-suppressed mice inoculated by C. Carrionisus pension of 1 × 108 cfu conidia mL-1), group C (immune-suppressed mice inoculated byC. Carrioni suspen-sion of 1 × 106 cfu conidia mL-1), group D (healthy mice inoculated bysodium chloride solution). C. Car-rioni suspension or sodium chloride solution wassubcutaneously inoculated into foot pads of mice. On day 7, 30 and 60 after inoculation, 6mice were killed in each group followed by the measurement of thickness of foot pads,pathology and mycology of skin samples taken from foot pads. Results In group A, B and C,there were swelling, blackening, ulceration and crusts at the inoculation site of allmice, with a morbidity of 100%. The thickness of foot pads in group A on day 30 wassignificantly higher than that on day 7 (2.40 ± 0.45 mm vs 2.85 ± 0.47 mm, P 0.05). Pathological changes in group A, B andC included necrosis, abscess and chronic granuloma formation; dark brown sclerotic bodieswere observed on HE and PAS staining as well as on direct microscopy; cultures of tissuesamples grew Cladosporium carrionii. The mice in group D remained uninfected. ConclusionMouse model for chromoblastomycosis may be established by subcutaneous inoculation ofCladosporium carrionii suspension into foot pads of healthy or immuno-suppressed mice.