The development of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in germ-free rats requires immunosuppression and exposure to the Pneumocystis carinii organism.
Adult germ-free rats treated with dexamethasone and exposed to a non-sterile environment did not harbor or develop Pneumocystis carinii cysts or trophozoites after 10 weeks of immunosuppression. Only when they were exposed to infected, conventional rats and treated with dexamethasone for 8 weeks or longer, did adult germ-free rats develop P. carinii infection.
Wolff
L
L
Institute for Immunology, Philipps University, Marburg, Germany.
Horch
S
S
Gemsa
D
D
D000818:Animals; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000494:pharmacology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D005856:Germ-Free Life; D007165:Immunosuppression Therapy; D008168:Lung / Q000382:microbiology; D011010:Pneumocystis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D011020:Pneumonia, Pneumocystis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000635:transmission; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
D003907:Dexamethasone