An evaluation of the resistance to Microsporum canis on the basis of the guinea pig.

The purpose of the work was to assess the immune response of guinea pigs after the experimental infection with Microsporum canis, and after immunization with a specific live vaccine. The guinea pigs after the recovery from infection showed a delayed type of hypersensitivity and in addition, 30 per cent of the animals were characterized by the presence of immediate hypersensitivity reactions. All the animals were resistant to reinfection with M.

[Microbiological evaluation of the effectiveness of gynalgin in the treatment of vaginitis].

The microbiological effectiveness of the preparation Gynalgin produced by POLFA Pharmaceutical Works in Rzeszów was assessed in cases of vulvovaginitis in 55 patients with clinically diagnosed inflammatory conditions of the lower genital tract, who were given Gynalgin tablets in 10-day courses. Vaginal smears were examined three times for the presence of bacteria, fungi and trichomonas vaginalis (before and immediately after the treatment, and two weeks later). In the initial examination in five vaginal smears mixed bacterial flora was found, in 6 smears trichomonas was present, in 4--bacteria and fungi, and in one--trichomonas and fungi.

An inactivated vaccine against ringworm.

A new vaccine against ringworm, containing the inactivated Trichophyton verrucosum strain, was assessed on guinea pigs and calves under experimental conditions and on three herds of cattle under natural conditions. The vaccine elicited a distinct immune response of the cellular type. This type of immunity assessed by the migration inhibition test of leukocytes corresponded to the immunity evaluated by the challenge.

Screening the keratinolytic activity of dermatophytes in vitro.

Sixteen strains out of 12 species dermatophytes were examined in respect to their ability of utilizing keratin substrates as the only sources of C and N. The employed keratin substrates included a solubilized preparation of feather keratin (KS) and native keratin, guinea pig hair and chicken feathers. It has been shown that the preparation KS constitutes a convenient model for a preliminary estimation of fungal keratinolytic activity and it can be a source of information about the localization of these enzymes.

Feather keratin as a ligand in an affinity chromatographic technique for isolation of protease from Trichophyton verrucosum.

A technique of affinity chromatography was developed and optimized for proteases from the postculture fluid of Trichophyton verrucosum. The technique employs porous glass with adsorbed feather keratin or keratin covalently bound to the glass. Modifications of the amounts of proteases introduced into the columns and the manner of elution (pH gradient, buffer concentration, EDTA) made it possible to achieve yields of the isolated enzymes of the order of 80%.

Comparative characterization of proteolytic enzymes from Trichophyton gallinae and Trichophyton verrucosum.

The proteolytic activities of culture filtrates and cell homogenates of Trichophyton gallinae and Trichophyton verrucosum were compared when the fungi were grown in the presence of a readily assimilable source of C and N (Sabouraud's broth) and a poorly assimilable source (mineral medium containing soluble keratin (KS) protein prepared from either chicken feathers or guinea pig hair). The proteolytic activity of T. gallinae was found to be located predominantly in the cell homogenate although this depended somewhat on the nature of the C and N source in the medium.

Early immunization of calves with an inactivated vaccine against trichophytosis.

The investigations demonstrated that the inactivated vaccine against trichophytosis, elaborated by the authors, induced immune response in calves, aged 5-8 days. The state of immunity was assessed in vitro by the leukocyte migration inhibition test, and in vivo by the allergic test and the challenge test. In all vaccinated calves (10 animals) there occurred delayed hypersensitivity and in six cases also a significant leukocyte migration inhibition.

Immunological properties of selected strains of Trichophyton genus.

The investigations demonstrated that the strains under study, either virulent or in the form of inactivated vaccines, induced a delayed type allergy. The response depended upon the affiliation to a determined species and individual properties of a strain. The strain T.

Intracellular keratinase of Trichophyton gallinae.

Trichophyton gallinae could grow on agar medium containing chicken feathers as sole sources of carbon and nitrogen, but it could not utilize human or guinea pig hair. The fungus grows rapidly when feather keratin solubilized in dimethyl sulphoxide was included in the growth medium. Keratinase activity could be detected by release of amino acids from solubilized keratin and by creation of zones of lysis in gel diffusion assay.

Lipid composition of the mycelial and spore forms of Trichophyton verrucosum.

Neutral lipid composition and that of phospholipids of mycelial and spore forms of Trichophyton verrucosum were examined. It was found that arthrospores had more than twice as high content of lipids (99.3 mg/g) than the corresponding mycelial form (44.

[Studies on using choline salt of N-glucosylpolyfungine as an antifungal preparation for cell culture].

Fungistatic and fungicidal activity as well as the toxicity of the polyfungine derivative of choline N-glucosylpolyfungine salt for chicken embryo fibroblasts were studied. This preparation was found to inhibit the growth of Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger and Penicillium sp. at 25-100 micrograms/ml concentrations of the medium.

[Micromorphology of Trichophyton verrucosum].

Using 6 samples of pathologically altered epidermis of guinea pigs and cattle, chosen strains Trichophyton verrucosum (6 strains) and the two layer method of inoculation on a classic Sabouraud's medium, arthropogenesis of the fungus was investigated. The authors described successive stages of the developmental cycle of T. verrucosum and they found that in all cases the process of arthropogenesis was very similar irrespective of the source of the material used for inoculation.