THE QUALITY of an indoor air environment is altered by the existence of microorganisms containing fungi and bacteria. This work was designed to evaluate the mycological indoor air quality of the Liver Intensive Care Unit at Suez Canal University Specialized Hospital, Egypt, along one year using conventional methods. Fourteen fungal species were isolated and identified as Aspergillus niger, Penicillium sp., Alternaria sp., Cladosporium sp., and Stemphyllium sp. A new record isolated from air, namely Alternaria chlamydospora, was identified using sequencing ITS and 18S rDNA regions and its pathogenicity was studied on male and female albino rats to clarify its aggressiveness. Several parameters of blood biochemical analysis containing hemoglobin (HGB), packed cell volume (PCV), red blood cells (RBC), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), white blood cells (WBC), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), red blood cell distribution width (RDW) and total count of the leukocytes (TLC) were measured. In addition, creatinine (Creat), glutamate oxaloacetate transaminases (GOT), and glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT) were estimated. Different organ histological sections were used for evaluation of A. chlamydospora pathogenicity.
The infected rat groups (two groups) injected intraperitoneally showed increase in liver and kidney enzymes in comparison to the uninfected control groups. Many severe histopathological changes (in liver, lung, pancreas, and heart) were shown in both sexes, which confirmed the pathogenicity of A. chlamydospora . This finding showed the implication possibility of this opportunistic pathogen for immuno-suppressed patient's infections. Occurrence of pathogenic fungi in the Liver Intensive Care Unit strongly suggests the need for regular and constant analysis of indoor air to improve the unit environment.