Summary In 1967 and 1968, we examined for the presence of antiaspergillus precipitins the sera of 362 patients suspected of pulmonary aspergillosis who were hospitalized in five sanatoria for tuberculosis and respiratory diseases of adults in the High Tatra Mountains area. All the tests were performed in parallel in two serological laboratories. Precipitins were demonstrated in 43 patients, i. e. 12 % of the group under study. The respective rates among patients with and without a previous history of tuberculosis were 32 out of 175 (18%) and 11 out of 187 (6%). Rather extensive anatomic changes in the lungs amounting to fibrosis with cavities were probably a prerequisite for the nidation of Aspergillus in both of these basic groups, but especially among the posttuberculosis patients. Professional exposure to organic dust was a factor which could not be neglected in either of these basic groups; in both of them the frequency of the disease was statistically significantly higher among patients who had had this exposure. The dependence on professional exposure was especially marked in the group of nontuberculous patients, where 10 out of 11 aspergillosis patients had professional exposure in their anamnesis. Susceptibility to aspergillosis was twice as high in females as in males in both of the basic groups. Patients with a history of tuberculosis suffered from aspergillosis at younger age than patients with nonspecific diseases. Aspergillus fumigatus was demonstrated in 37 patients, Asp. flavus in four and Asp. niger in two. Only Asp. fumigatus proved to be clinically offensive, producing typical and atypical aspergillomas and being the cause of haemoptysis, which developed in half the cases. The intensity of Aspergillus growth on Sabouraud's medium and the intensity of agar‐gel precipitation reactions were good indicators of the activity of the process. Parallel testing of sera in two laboratories permitted us, where corresponding results were obtained, to take into consideration also the weaker positive reactions. In the posttuberculosis cases, pulmonary aspergillosis usually developed within three years of the “debacillization”. In five patients in whom we had the possibility to observe the development of aspergillomas in the course of hospitalization, we witnessed the supporting effect of antibiotics and corticosteroids on the growth and development of aspergillomas. In respect of domicile, the cases were distributed evenly throughout the territory of the Slovakian Republic, but the West Slovakia Region was represented by only a small number of instances in our material.
Lyophilization of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses and bacteriophages is, today, a normal method of a long-term preservation allowing to retain all their essential properties (1). Although this method of preservation has been known and practised more than these 50 years, it is not without interest to note that in a number of other unicellular organisms, above all in those belonging to the class of fungi (2-4), this ideal method of preservation is not yet so developed as to make its use possible (5-6). There are several reasons for this:1. These organisms have a more complicated morphological structure than bacteria and viruses already mentioned. 2. Their metabolism depends to a greater extent on external conditions. 3. They grow and multiply in a specific way. In the first stage of our study we tried to assess the lyophilization of three Candida strains quantitatively and qualitatively with regard to their viability in lyophilic media of different protective properties. Methodical procedures and their resultsThe study to solve 4 basic tasks:1. to prepare the given culture for lyophilization, 2. to find the most convenient lyophilic medium, 3. to determine methods of pre-freezing and lyophilization and 4. to assess qualitatively and quantitatively the viability of lyophilized cells. These partial tasks were being gradually solved and evaluated for three years.
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