Ahluwalia K B
Department of Biophysics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.
J Submicrosc Cytol Pathol. 1992 Jan;24(1):109-14.
Fungal etiology is widely quoted for the disease rhinosporidiosis. Identity of the fungal sporangium and its relationship with the disease have baffled medical scientists and mycologists for several decades. This study provides unequivocal evidence against involvement of fungus in rhinosporidiosis. The so-called sporangium is found to be a unique body containing residue-loaded lysosomal bodies ('spores') for elimination from the system. 'Sporangia' have been redesignated nodular bodies (NB) and 'spores' as spheres of cellular waste (scw). Two carbohydrates, namely defective proteoglycans synthesized intracellularly and an exogenous polysaccharide ingested through diet of tapioca constitute indigestible material in NB and scw. Polysaccharide in NB which has beta, 1-4 glycosidic bonds between mannose residues is not degraded by gastrointestinal enzymes nor in intracellular lysosomes which break only alpha-glycosidic bonds. A link between NB and dry tapioca has been deduced. Rhinosporidiosis is a complex phenotype with perhaps no parallel in medical science. This report erases 99 years (1892-1991) of controversies regarding 'causal organism' of rhinosporidiosis.
鼻孢子虫病的病因普遍被认为是真菌。几十年来，真菌孢子囊的身份及其与该疾病的关系一直困扰着医学科学家和真菌学家。这项研究提供了明确的证据，证明真菌与鼻孢子虫病无关。所谓的孢子囊被发现是一种独特的结构，其中包含装载着残渣的溶酶体小体（“孢子”），用于从系统中清除。“孢子囊”被重新命名为结节体（NB），“孢子”被重新命名为细胞废物球（scw）。两种碳水化合物，即细胞内合成的有缺陷的蛋白聚糖和通过木薯饮食摄入的外源性多糖，构成了NB和scw中难以消化的物质。NB中的多糖在甘露糖残基之间具有β-1,4糖苷键，既不会被胃肠酶降解，也不会在仅能分解α-糖苷键的细胞内溶酶体中被降解。由此推断出NB与干木薯之间存在联系。鼻孢子虫病是一种复杂的表型，在医学领域可能没有类似情况。本报告消除了关于鼻孢子虫病“致病生物”长达99年（1892年至1991年）的争议。
