Alterations in the pathogenicity of one Paracoccidioides brasiliensis isolate do not correlative with its in vitro growth

Abstract

The in vitro subcultivation of some microorganisms for long periods causes measurable loss of their pathogenicity, which can be reverted by reisolation from infected hosts. We compared the pathogenicity and the in vitro growth pattern of one P. brasiliensis isolate (Pb 18) in its yeast phase, using the following samples: 1) The original pathogenic Pb 18 (OP). 2) Pb 18 attenuated by continuous in vitro subcultivation (AT). 3) Pb 18 (AT) reisolated from susceptible B10.A mice (RS). 4) Pb 18 (AT) reisolated from resistant A/SN mice (RR). Pathogenicity was evaluated by anatomopathology and mortality of mice infected i.p. with 5 x 10(6) fungi. Median survival times of mice infected with OP ranged from 74 to 117 days during the first 51 months of subculturing; with more cycles of subculturing the median survival time increased, reaching 250 days at the 64th month. This indicated decreasing virulence of OP during this period of subculturing. Survival of mice infected with RS and RR was respectively 112 and 123 days, which is similar to the behavior of the OP variant. The in vitro growth curve profile of RR showed significantly higher numbers of total and viable yeasts than the other studied variant. These results show that: 1) Pb 18 isolate loses its pathogenicity by continuous subcultivation. This phenomenon is reverted by reisolation from mice, independently from their susceptibility to the fungus; 2) the in vitro growth patterns of Pb 18 do not correlate with alterations in pathogenicity but are influenced by the host's environment.