Early production of proinflammatory cytokines in response to Scedosporium apiospermum during murine pulmonary infection.

Scedosporium apiospermum is an opportunistic pathogen that can cause pulmonary infections in both immunosuppressive and immunocompetent patients. Cytokines are molecules that mediate the immune response to promote or eliminate fungal infections. In this work, we evaluated the cytokines profile in the lung and serum of mice infected with Scedosporium apiospermum. We found early production of IL-6, IL-1β and TNF-α cytokines in the lung of infected mice during the first 5 days of infection. We suggest that release of pro-inflammatory cytokines could play a role in the control of fungal invasion.