Korean J Parasitol.  1992 Dec;30(4):277-281. 10.3347/kjp.1992.30.4.277.

Susceptibility of various animals to Pneumocystis carinii infection

• Hong ST
• Park KH
• Lee SH

• KMID: 1715506
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3347/kjp.1992.30.4.277

Abstract

Pneumocystis carinii (Pc) is an important opportunistic pathogen of immune compromised hosts, and is known to infect various animals. The present study observed the infection status of 6 mammals and 3 strains of albino rats with Pc after suppression of their immunity. Methyl-prednisolone was injected once a week and tetracycline was supplied with water for 5 to 21 weeks. Hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, dogs, cats and pigs were negative by impression smear, and only the rats were found infected by Pc. All of the three strains of rats, Sprague-Dawley(SD), Wistar(W) and Fisher(F), were infected by Pc but W rats showed heavier degree of infection in earlier period than F or SD rats. The present findings suggest that W rat is the best among the animals used in the present study for production of Pc.

MeSH Terms

Cats-
Disease-Susceptibility
Dogs-
Guinea-Pigs
Hamsters-
Immunocompromised-Host
Methylprednisolone-
Pneumocystis-carinii-Infections-parasitology
Rabbits-
Rats-
Rats,-Inbred-F344
Rats,-Sprague-Dawley
Rats,-Wistar
Swine-
*Pneumocystis-carinii-pathogenicity
*Pneumocystis-carinii-Infections-immunology
Methylprednisolone