Stachylysin may cause hemorrhagin in humans

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Stachylysin May Be a Cause of Hemorrhaging in Humans Exposed to Stachybotrys

chartarum

J. Vesper1* and Jo Vesper2

National Exposure Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency,

Cincinnati, Ohio 45268,1 and Department of Biology, University of Dayton,

Dayton, Ohio 454692

Received 7 May 2001/Returned for modification 7 September 2001/Accepted 18

December 2001

Stachybotrys chartarum is a toxigenic fungus that has been associated with human

health concerns such as

nasal bleeding in adults and pulmonary hemosiderosis (PH) in infants. Seven of

eight strains of S. chartarum

isolated from homes of infants with PH in Cleveland, Ohio, and the strain from

the lung of an infant with PH

in Texas produced stachylysin in tryptic soy broth (TSB), whereas only one out

of eight strains isolated from

control homes produced stachylysin. However, all strains produced stachylysin

when grown on TSB with 0.7%

sheep’s blood. When stachylysin was injected into Lumbricus terrestis, the

erythrocruorin hemoglobin (absorbance

peaks at 280 and 415 nm) was released, resulting in a lethal effect. These

results support the hypothesis

that stachylysin may be one agent responsible for hemorrhaging in humans.

For full report:

http://iai.asm.org/cgi/reprint/70/4/2065.pdf