Studies on the Involvement of the Central Nervous and Vestibular Systems of Animals Caused by Fungi

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Abstract
The authors have observed a new phenomenon in rabbits which were intravenously inoculated with heat-killed cells of a certain strain of Candida albicans or a lipopolysaccharide fraction or an “endotoxinlike substance” from the strain, followed by the challenge of living cells. The treated animals showed a unique syndrome consisting of torticollis, spontaneous nystagmus, exophthalmos, cataract, ataxia, etc. about two weeks after the last injection of the living cells. Hearing and vestibular functions proved to be conspicuously disordered. The animals became hypersensitive in consequence of the above immunization procedure and serum antibody was also remarkably increased in titre. Histopathologically, granulomatous tubercles, cell degeneration, demyelination and other changes in the central nervous and vestibular systems were noticeable. These findings demonstrate that both the central nervous and vestibular systems were involved in the positive cases of this phenomenon, and immunity or autoimmunity seemed to play an important role in the mechanism.

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