Antonio Carini (1872–1950) was an Italian

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

bacteriologist A bacteriologist is a microbiologist, or similarly trained professional, in bacteriology -- a subdivision of microbiology that studies bacteria, typically Pathogenic bacteria, pathogenic ones. Bacteriologists are interested in studying and learnin ...

and professor. He worked in the public health services of São Paulo, Brazil for over forty years.Biography at Università degli Studi di Pavia
Carini showed that

rabies Rabies is a viral disease that causes encephalitis in humans and other mammals. Early symptoms can include fever and tingling at the site of exposure. These symptoms are followed by one or more of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, vi ...

of herbivores could be transmitted by bats, and discovered a parasitic fungus ('' Pneumocystis carinii'', now known as ''P. jirovecii''), which causes

pneumocystosis Pneumocystosis is a fungal infection that most often presents as Pneumocystis pneumonia in people with HIV/AIDS or poor immunity. It usually causes cough, difficulty breathing and fever, and can lead to respiratory failure. Involvement outside t ...

Early life

Carini was born in Sondrio, Italy. In 1906, aged 34, he was invited to run the

Pasteur Institute The Pasteur Institute (french: Institut Pasteur) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vaccines f ...

of São Paulo, a position he held until 1914.

The discovery of ''Pneumocystis carinii''

In 1909, examining the lungs of guinea pigs experimentally infected with ''

Trypanosoma cruzi ''Trypanosoma cruzi'' is a species of parasitic euglenoids. Among the protozoa, the trypanosomes characteristically bore tissue in another organism and feed on blood (primarily) and also lymph. This behaviour causes disease or the likelihood of ...

'',

Carlos Chagas Carlos Justiniano Ribeiro Chagas, or Carlos Chagas (; July 9, 1879 – November 8, 1934), was a Brazilian sanitary physician, scientist, and bacteriologist who worked as a clinician and researcher. He discovered Chagas disease, also called ''Ame ...

described parasitic forms that linked the pulmonary cycle of the trypanosome. But in 1910, Carini and Maciel Jesuino found cyst formations very similar to these parasitic forms when examining the lungs of rats living in the sewers and naturally infected by '' Trypanosoma lewisi''. Carini sent the biological material from São Paulo to French researchers Pierre and Eugénie Delanoë at the

Institut Pasteur The Pasteur Institute (french: Institut Pasteur) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vaccines fo ...

in Paris. In 1912, after studying the material, they confirmed that the parasite was indeed different from ''T. cruzi'' and called it ''Pneumocystis carinii'', in honour of the researcher. The Delanoës published the first description of the organism as something different from trypanosomes. In 1942, two Dutch researchers, G. van der Meer and S. L. Brug, were presented three cases in humans (two babies and a 21-year-old adult), affected by a form of pneumonia particularly frequent in Central Europe, especially in frail or

dystrophic Dystrophic lakes, also known as humic lakes, are lakes that contain high amounts of humic substances and organic acids. The presence of these substances causes the water to be brown in colour and have a generally low pH of around 4.0-6.0. Due to ...

premature children. In the 1980s, investigations about its molecular biology made clear that the pneumonia was not caused by a parasitic

protozoan Protozoa (singular: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a group of single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, that feed on organic matter such as other microorganisms or organic tissues and debris. Histo ...

, but by a

fungus A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from th ...

. In the same years, ''Pneumocystis carinii'' was often held responsible for severe lung infections in patients affected by AIDS. In 1999, the human variant of ''Pneumocystis carinii'' was renamed ''

Pneumocystis jirovecii ''Pneumocystis jirovecii'' (previously ''P. carinii'') is a yeast-like fungus of the genus ''Pneumocystis''. The causative organism of ''Pneumocystis'' pneumonia, it is an important human pathogen, particularly among immunocompromised hosts. Pr ...

'', but the former name is still commonly used. Carini was Professor of Microbiology at the Faculty of Medicine,

University of Pavia The University of Pavia ( it, Università degli Studi di Pavia, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; la, Alma Ticinensis Universitas) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one ...

and a prolific researcher in medical microbiology. He identified or studied over 150 new or little-known micro-organisms, including trypanosomes,

Giardia ''Giardia'' ( or ) is a genus of anaerobic flagellated protozoan parasites of the phylum Metamonada that colonise and reproduce in the small intestines of several vertebrates, causing the disease giardiasis. Their life cycle alternates between ...

pneumocystis The Pneumocystidomycetes are a class of ascomycete fungi. It includes the single order Pneumocystidales, which contains the single monotypic family Pneumocystidaceae, which in turn contains the genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic r ...

plasmodia ''Plasmodium'' is a genus of unicellular eukaryotes that are obligate parasites of vertebrates and insects. The life cycles of ''Plasmodium'' species involve development in a blood-feeding insect host which then injects parasites into a verteb ...

toxoplasma ''Toxoplasma gondii'' () is an obligate intracellular parasitic protozoan (specifically an apicomplexan) that causes toxoplasmosis. Found worldwide, ''T. gondii'' is capable of infecting virtually all warm-blooded animals, but felids, such as d ...

, and

Leptospira ''Leptospira'' ( grc, leptos, italics=yes, 'fine, thin' and la, spira, links=no, 'coil') is a genus of spirochaete bacteria, including a small number of pathogenic and saprophytic species. ''Leptospira'' was first observed in 1907 in kidney t ...

Later life

In 1947 he retired from the leadership of the Paulista Institute of Biology and returned to Italy. He died in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

three years later, aged 78.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carini, Antonio 1872 births 1950 deaths Italian microbiologists 19th-century Italian physicians People from Sondrio Academic staff of the University of Pavia