DNA amplification in experimental pneumocystosis: characterization of serum Pneumocystis carinii DNA and potential P. carinii carrier states.

DNA amplification has identified P. carinii DNA in diverse biologic specimens, including the serum of patients with P. carinii pneumonia. To further examine the relationship between P. carinii DNA in serum and P. carinii infection, the corticosteroid-treated rat model of pneumocystosis was studied. By 4 weeks of immunosuppression, P. carinii DNA was detected in rat lungs and by 6 weeks, in their serum. P. carinii DNA persisted in lung tissue as long as 5 months after the withdrawal of steroids. Serum DNA disappeared 2 weeks after steroids were withdrawn. Nonimmunocompromised, sentinel rats housed near immunocompromised, P. carinii-infected rats also were studied. Within 6 weeks, P. carinii DNA became detectable in lung and by 8 weeks, in serum. P. carinii DNA disappeared rapidly from lungs and sera after sentinel rats were isolated away from corticosteroid-treated rats. These findings support the contagious transmission of P. carinii and suggest facile development of P. carinii carrier states.

[1]  K. Sepkowitz,et al.  Application of DNA amplification to pneumocystosis: presence of serum Pneumocystis carinii DNA during human and experimentally induced Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia , 1992, The Journal of experimental medicine.

[2]  J. Dauber,et al.  Subclinical pneumonitis due to Pneumocystis carinii in a young adult with elevated antibody titers to Epstein-Barr virus. , 1992, The Journal of infectious diseases.

[3]  J. Hopkin,et al.  A search for Pneumocystis carinii in post‐mortem lungs by DNA amplification , 1992, The Journal of pathology.

[4]  P. Francioli,et al.  Transmission of Pneumocystis carinii from AIDS patients to other immunosuppressed patients: a cluster of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in renal transplant recipients. , 1991, AIDS.

[5]  R. Kaslow,et al.  Epidemiologic patterns of upper respiratory illness and Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in homosexual men. , 1991, American Review of Respiratory Disease.

[6]  S. Radio,et al.  Immunohistochemistry of Pneumocystis carinii infection. , 1990, Modern pathology : an official journal of the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, Inc.

[7]  J. Phair,et al.  Serologic responses to Pneumocystis carinii antigens in health and disease. , 1990, The Journal of infectious diseases.

[8]  J. Kovacs,et al.  Pneumocystis Pneumonia: From Bench to Clinic , 1989 .

[9]  J. Kovacs,et al.  Isolation and expression of the Pneumocystis carinii dihydrofolate reductase gene. , 1989, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[10]  Henry A. Erlich,et al.  PCR Technology: Principles and Applications for DNA Amplification , 1989 .

[11]  M. Bye,et al.  Prognostic factors and life expectancy in children with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. , 1989, American journal of diseases of children.

[12]  A. Heryet,et al.  Observations favouring Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia as a primary infection: a monoclonal antibody study on paraffin sections , 1988, The Journal of pathology.

[13]  R. Bermûdez,et al.  Factors in an outbreak of Pneumocystis carinii in a transplant unit. , 1988, Transplantation proceedings.

[14]  R. Selik,et al.  Opportunistic diseases reported in AIDS patients: frequencies, associations, and trends. , 1987, AIDS.

[15]  W. T. Hughes.  Pneumocystis carinii pneumonitis. , 1987, The New England journal of medicine.

[16]  J. Sambrook,et al.  Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual , 2001 .

[17]  W. Hughes.  Natural mode of acquisition for de novo infection with Pneumocystis carinii. , 1982, The Journal of infectious diseases.

[18]  K. Yoneda,et al.  Growth characteristics and pathogenesis of experimental Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia , 1980, Infection and immunity.

[19]  W. Hughes.  Limited effect of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole prophylaxis on Pneumocystis carinii , 1979, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

[20]  K. Heyrman,et al.  An outbreak of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia at a pediatric hospital. , 1978, Pediatrics.

[21]  W. Hughes,et al.  Pneumocystis carinii infection: evidence for high prevalence in normal and immunosuppressed children. , 1978, Pediatrics.

[22]  P. Walzer,et al.  Nude mouse: a new experimental model for Pneumocystis carinii infection. , 1977, Science.

[23]  D. Armstrong,et al.  Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia: a cluster of eleven cases. , 1975, Annals of internal medicine.

[24]  A. Kafatos,et al.  Protein-calorie malnutrition. A host determinant for Pneumocystis carinii infection. , 1974 .

[25]  W. Hughes,et al.  Efficacy of Trimethoprim and Sulfamethoxazole in the Prevention and Treatment of Pneumocystis carinii Pneumonitis , 1974, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

[26]  R. Price,et al.  Pneumocystis carinii pneumonitis in children with malignancies. , 1973, The Journal of pediatrics.

[27]  J. Hendley,et al.  Activation and Transmission in Rats of Infection with Pneumocystis 1 , 1971, Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine. Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine.

[28]  R. Howard,et al.  Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in three full-term siblings. , 1970, The Journal of pediatrics.

[29]  Frenkel Jk,et al.  Latent Pneumocystis infection of rats, relapse, and chemotherapy. , 1966 .

[30]  F. Pavlica.  The first observation of congenital pneumocystic pneumonia in a fully developed stillborn child. , 1962, Annales paediatrici. International review of pediatrics.

[31]  W. H. Sheldon.  Subclinical pneumocystis pneumonitis. , 1959, A.M.A. journal of diseases of children.