Improved and adopted murine models to combat pulmonary aspergillosis.

ABSTRACT

The insufficient basic and clinical knowledge about invasive mold infections necessitated to review aspergillosis rodent models. The scope of this review has two major aspects. (1) It briefly summarizes Aspergillus toxicoses, the adverse effects of Aspergillus mycotoxins, the virulence factors of Aspergillus fumigatus, and how mild Aspergillus infections can turn to immunosuppressive diseases, ultimately to lethal invasive pulmonary aspergillosis. (2) The second major aspect of the review deals with earlier and recent murine models of pulmonary aspergillosis. Particular attention will be paid to the development of unified and generally applicable methods to detect, follow, and combat aspergillosis by medical treatments. Additionally, the review raises the question of responsibility regarding the application of immunosuppressive agents that initiate, contribute, and aggravate aspergillosis. Future studies of immunosuppression by chemical agents impacting aspergillosis deserve more studies.