Mechanism of uptake of strontium isotopes in aspergillus lesions.
Observations on experimental aspergillosis of chorioallantoic membranes confirmed that strontium-85 uptake in aspergillus lesions was directly due to infection by the fungus. Such uptake was not found in normal or in Toxoplasma gondii-infected control membranes. Further, the avidity of radionuclide uptake was proportional to the mycelial mass, as previously observed clinically. Investigations on 85Sr containing malt extract broth Aspergillus fumigatus cultures revealed that fungal hyphas did not contain the major proportion of radioactivity, but culture filtrates did, and suggested that a fungal metabolite may be responsible for radiostrontium binding. Subsequent radiochromatography of filtrates obtained from A. fumigatus cultures confirmed the existence of such a metabolite. Several clinical and laboratory observations support the concept that an aspergillus metabolite at foci of infection binds 85Sr and 87mSr.