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Microscopic Fungi and Metabolites in Dwellings-a Bioassay Study
Ing. Elena Piecková, M.P.H., Ph.D., MUDr. Zdenka Jesenská, Dr., Sc., Ken Wilikins, Ph.D. Institute of Preventive and Clinical Medicine, Bratislava, Slovakia

The ciliostatic effect of chloroform-extractable endo- and exocellular metabolites of the most frequently isolated fungal strains from growth in dwellings: Alternaria sp., Aspergillus glaucus group, A. versicolor, Cladosporium sphaerospermum, Penicillium sp., P. chrysogenum, Stachybotrys chartarum, Trichoderma viride and Ulocladium sp. was studied on tracheal cilia from day old chicks in vitro. Biomass extracts from Alternaria sp. and A. versicolor as well as exocellular extracts from P. chrysogenum, S. chartarum I, T. viride and Ulocladium sp. stopped cilia movement during the first 24 hours. Biomass extracts of P. chrysogenum, S. chartarum I and T. viride as well as media extracts from Alternaria sp., C. sphaerospermum and Penicillium sp. stopped cilia movement between 24 and 48 hours. Between 48 and 72 hours the biomass extract of an A. glaucus gr. isolate and media extracts of A. versicolor and S. chartarum II showed activity while the other extracts (cellular from C. sphaerospermum, S. chartarum II and Ulocladium sp. and media one from A. glaucus gr.) showed no activity. The results are discussed in relationship with health status of people living/working in moldy buildings.