The influence of cortisone on experimental fungus infections in mice.

The administration of adrenal glucocorticoids is associated with enhancement of many experimental infections. The pertinent studies have been reviewed comprehensively by Kass and Finland (1). Most experiments in which fungi were used as the infecting microorganism have also demonstrated an increase in the severity of infection when adrenal hormones were injected prior to or concomitantly with the fungus (2-9). A few studies, however, showed no augmentation of mycotic disease following the administration of steroids (3, 10-12). The investigations on fungi have not provided information as to the relative propensity of the various species to disseminate under the influence of steroids, nor have they offered definitive data on the mechanisms of enhancement or on the tissue localization of increased infection. The effects of cortisone on experimental infections in mice caused by Histo plasmia capsulatuin, Cryptococcus neoforinans, and Candida albicans were compared in the present studies. The results show that Monilia infections were enhanced more readily than infections caused by either of the other two fungi. Further bacteriological and histological studies were then performed to delineate the pathogenesis of increased infection in candidiasis, and to analyze the effects of cortisone when the infecting inoculum was small and when steroid treatment was delayed.