Stachybotrys chartarum: cause of human disease or media darling?

Abstract

suggested that neurocognitive damage resulted from Stachybotrys exposure [147] although no mechan- ism for this was suggested and none are immediately obvious. The most useful studies on the impact of trichothe- cene-containing spores of S. chartarum are those that have involved a number of different strains of experi- mental mice. Mice are more resistant to the toxic effects of trichothecenes than are non-human primates [94]. Whether the consequences of S. chartarum exposures would be greater when other fungal materials, endo- toxin and building dusts are present remains unknown. Further risk characterization cannot be reliably made without obtaining one or more of the following advancements. (1) Better characterization of the total exposure (spores, spore and mycelial fragments), such that nose-only inhalation experiments can be carried out, is needed. (2) A better understanding of the relative roles of the chemicals present in an exposure arising from S. chartarum-contaminated building ma- terials (trichothecenes, atranones, sporocyclics, pro- tease, allergen, cyclosporine) needs to be obtained from several animal models. (3) Biomarkers of the impact of one or more S. chartarum need to be developed and applied to human tissue. It appears that the outcome of very high exposure to S. chartarum can differ from that of exposure to other building-associated fungi. It is evident that there is a NOAEL of exposure to S. chartarum in the built environment, but this may differ according to age, medical history and concurrent exposures. Much needs to be done to clarify the risk. That said, the public Fig. 5 Structures of atranones and dolabellanes. – 2003 ISHAM, Medical Mycology, 41, 271/291 S. chartarum: cause of human disease? 287 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mmy/article/41/4/271/1008237 by guest on 15 September 2020 policy in several countries is that living or working in damp buildings is unacceptable. Perhaps this will in the end render the question of the hazard of S. chartarum irrelevant. References

Symptom Clusters