Histological, immunohistochemical and morphometric changes in lung tissue in juvenile mice experimentally exposed to Stachybotrys chartarum spores.

Stachybotrys chartarum is an important toxigenic fungus often associated with chronically wet cellulose-based building materials. The purpose of this study was to evaluate some histological, immunohistochemical and morphometric changes in mouse lung tissues exposed intratracheally to either 50 microl of 1.4 x 10(6) S. chartarum spores (< or = 35 ng toxin/kg BW), isosatratoxin-F (35 ng/kg BW), 50 microl of 1.4 x 10(6) Cladosporium cladosporioides spores, or 50 microl saline. Exposure of lung tissues to S. chartarum or C. cladosporioides spores resulted in granuloma formation at the sites of spore impaction. Some of the lung tissues impacted by S. chartarum spores also showed erythrocyte accumulation in the alveolar air space, dilated capillaries engorged with erythrocytes, and hemosiderin accumulation at spore impaction sites, which were features not noted in the C. cladosporioides-spore treated animals. Immunohistochemistry revealed reduced collagen IV distribution in lung granulomas in S. chartarum-treated animals especially at 48 and 72 hr post-exposure compared to that in lungs of mice with C. cladosporioides-spore induced granulomas. Quantitative analysis of pooled S. chartarum and C. cladosporioides spore impacted lungs revealed significant depression (P < 0.05) of alveolar air space from 71.4 +/- 6.1% in untreated animals to 56.04 +/- 6.1% in the S. chartarum- and 60.24 +/- 5.5% in the C. cladosporioides-spore treated animals. It also revealed that alveolus air space in S. chartarum treated animals declined significantly from 63.74 +/- 3.1% at 12 hr post-exposure to 42.94 +/- 7.9% at 72 hr post-exposure and was increased to 54.84 +/- 5.2% at 96 hr post-exposure. Alveolus air space in C. cladosporioides treated animals also decreased significantly from 64.84 +/- 7.1% at 12 hr exposure to 54.94 +/- 5.4% at 48 hr post-exposure and was increased to 64.64 +/- 10.1% at 96 hr post-exposure. It also revealed significant (P < 0.05) alveolar accumulation of erythrocytes from 1.24 +/- 1.4% in the untreated animals to 3.44 +/- 1.5% in the pooled S. chartarum spore treated animals. Erythrocyte abundance in S. chartarum treated animals increased significantly (P < 0.001) from 2.14 +/- 1.7% at 12 hr post-exposure to 5.54 +/- 1.5% at 72 hr and 4.94 +/- 1.4% at 96 hr post-exposure. These results further reveal that exposure to S. chartarum spores elicit tissue responses in vivo significantly different from those associated with exposure to pure trichothecene toxin and to spores of a non-toxigenic fungus.