Abstract
In order to investigate the difference between steroid hormone and cyclophosphamide treatment on the susceptibility of leukemic patients to deep-seated mycosis, experimental aspergillosis was studied in leukemic mice.
Mean survival time of the leukemic mice inoculated with Aspergillus fumigatus was 8 and a half days. When steroid hormone, which strongly impairs peripheral lymphocytes, was administered with inoculation, all mice died within 5 days and Aspergillus affected many organs with marked lymphocytopenia. On the other hand, cyclophosphamide induced mild lymphocytopenia, as compared with steroid hormone. When cyclophosphamide was administered with inoculation, fewer organs were affected by the fungus and some mice without marked lymphocytopenia survived for a relatively long time.
These results indicate that drugs such as steroid hormones, which induce more marked lymphocytopenia, have a profound effect on vulnerability to Aspergillus infection in the treatment of leukemia.
