Downloaded on June 21, 2014. The Journal of Clinical Investigation. More information at www.jci.org/articles/view/104142 FEVER FROM PATHOGENIC FUNGI *

Most studies of fever have dealt with the pyrogenic activity of the bacterial lipopolysaccharides of gram-negative bacteria (1). The pyrogenic properties of pathogenic gram-positive bacteria, on the other hand, have been the stubject of only a few reports. It is of interest, however, that intravenous injection of living staphylococci and corynebacteria were found to produce higher fever in rabbits than did gram-negative bacteria (2), and that pronounced elevations of body temperature were found after intravenous injections of both living and heat-killed streptococci, as well as streptococcal lysates (3). The pyrogenicity of another group of gram-positive microorganisms, the pathogenic fungi, has received no consideration in the literature, although Salvin (4) reported that they possess lethal endotoxins for mice. The following study was undertaken, therefore, to determine which of the common pathogenic fungi can induce fever and to compare their pyrogenic effect with that of the lipopolysaccharides of gramnegative bacteria. The presence of pyrogens in saprophytic molds has been reported but the characteristics of the pyrogen and of the fever response were not described (5). METHODS AND AIATERIALS Source of pathogenic funitgi. All but one strain were isolated from human infections. The strain of Canidida albicans was cultured from the blood of a patient with fatal hematogenous candidiasis (6), and the strain of Cryptococcus nitoformanis from the spinal fluid of a patient with fatal cryptococcal meningitis. Two strainis of Histoplasma capsulatum11 were obtained from Dr. Chester Emmons, of the National Institutes of Health. One of these (H. capsuilatuinii G-3996) was isolated from soil and the other (H-635) at autopsy. The Hattie Davis and Sautman strains of Blastonyces derniiatitidis were provided by Dr. Robert Abernathy and Sporotrichumwl schenckii, strain 7019, was obtained from the America