scid mice naturally infected with Pneumocystis carinii and inoculated with a normally apathogenic pneumovirus had significantly higher P. carinii cyst counts and developed significantly more severe P. carinii-related disease than did sham-inoculated, P. carinii-infected scid mice. P. carinii-free, virus-infected scid mice survived for 2 months despite high pulmonary virus titers. These results ...

Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia was diagnosed by bronchoalveolar lavage of the upper lobes in a patient with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) receiving aerosol pentamidine prophylaxis. Serendipitous availability of a normal premorbid lung gallium scan indicated that pneumocystosis had developed during aerosol pentamidine prophylaxis; at the time of presentation a repeat gallium scan...

Respiratory specimens were prospectively examined for Pneumocystis carinii from 53 patients. The majority of specimens were comprised of expectorated sputum, induced sputum, broncho-alveolar lavage (BAL), and tracheal aspirates. In only four patients Pneumocystis carinii (P. carinii) was detected. All the samples were produced by broncho-alveolar lavage. Candida spp and Aspergillus spp were als...

The technique of immunoblotting for detecting soluble Pneumocystis carinii antigen(s) in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid specimens from patients with AIDS and Pneumocystis pneumonia was evaluated. A soluble 67 kilodalton polypeptide that was immunoreactive with an anti-P carinii monoclonal antibody (2G2) was found in the supernatants of 26 lavage samples from patients with pneumocystosis. Intact o...

Members of the genus Pneumocystis are microscopic yeast-like fungi that reside in the lungs of almost every mammal that has been evaluated for their presence. They grow extracellularly in the alveoli of mammals and are considered to be host obligate, as they cannot grow outside the lung on artificial media. Pneumocystis species (spp.) are typically restricted to the lungs, although extrapulmona...

Pneumocystis carinii is an opportunistic fungus causing severe pneumonia in immune-compromised hosts. Recent evidence suggests that Pneumocystis exists as separate sex types, though definitive evidence is currently lacking. These studies were undertaken to determine whether Pneumocystis maintains functional meiotic control molecules, which are required for sexual life stages in eukaryotes. Usin...

Yu, Mariette L., and Andrew H. Limper. Pneumocystis carinii induces ICAM-1 expression in lung epithelial cells through a TNF-a-mediated mechanism. Am. J. Physiol. 273 (Lung Cell. Mol. Physiol. 17): L1103–L1111, 1997.—Inflammatory cell recruitment contributes to respiratory impairment during Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. We evaluated expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), a ...

Fourteen immunosuppressed patients with Pneumocystis carinii infection presented in two clusters that were separated by 2 years. The diagnosis in all cases was made early by alveolar lavage with cytology. The first group of seven patients was immunosuppressed with cyclophosphamide or azathioprine and prednisolone. All recovered with high dose co-trimoxazole. The second group of seven patients w...

Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia is a frequent manifestation of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). It usually presents radiologically as diffuse bilateral infiltrates and histologically as a foamy, eosinophilic intra-alveolar exudate containing the organisms' cysts. We recently studied two rare cases of P carinii pneumonia presenting as pulmonary nodules on chest x-ray films in two p...

Ninety-five bronchoalveolar lavage specimens from 63 immunocompetent adult patients with primary pulmonary disease were analyzed for Pneumocystis carinii colonization by primary and nested PCR. Twelve of 63 patients (19%) were PCR positive. None of them developed P. carinii pneumonia. These results suggest that P. carinii carriage may exist in immunocompetent patients with underlying pulmonary ...