GRANULOMATOUS REACTION AND TISSUE REMODELING IN THE CUTANEOUS LESION OF CHROMOMYCOSIS

The cell-mediated immune reaction was studied in the cutaneous lesion of chromomycosis, using monoclonal antibodies against polymorphonuclea r neutrophils, macrophage and lymphocyte subsets, endothelial and fibr oblast cells. In addition, immunostaining of the main degradative enzy mes (neutrophil elastase and interstitial collagenase) and certain imp ortant cytokines (transforming growth factor-beta, tumour necrosis fac tor-alpha and interferon-gamma) suggested an explanation for the granu lomatous reaction and the associated tissue remodelling. The distribut ion pattern of neutrophils and macrophage subsets, observed by compute r-aided image analysis, suggests that the in situ persistence of fungi is the main pathological factor.