Objectives 
Paracoccidioidomycosis is a systemic disease, endemic in Latin America, caused by dimorphic fungi of Paracoccidioides genus. Even though the primary pathway of infection is pulmonary, by inhalation of conidia, several anatomical sites may be affected by lymphoematogenic dissemination, including the heart. Studies demonstrate the complexity of the P. brasiliensis caused disease and reveal a necessity to investigate the infection sites these microorganism, because the involvement may be underdiagnosed. The aim of this work was to identify and characterize fungal colonization in the heart of P. brasiliensis infected mice. BALB/c mice were infected with virulent Pb18 strain of P. brasiliensis that was euthanized at 15, 30 and 60 days after infection. 
Methods
Male BALB/c mice were inoculated with 3 × 105 viable yeast cells of virulent P. brasiliensis. The mice were euthanized (anesthetic overdose), and the heart were aseptically removed 15, 30 and 60 days after infection. The number of viable cells was determined by plating crude and serially diluted homogenates onto brain-heart infusion agar (BHI, Difco Laboratories, Detroit, MI, U.S.A.) supplemented with 4% fetal calf serum and 5% P. brasiliensis spent culture medium (Pb18) as growth factors. The CFUs were counted after 20 days of incubation. The results are expressed as the log10 per gram of tissue of CFUs of viable yeast cells of P. brasiliensis (log10/g). Part of heart was used for histological analyzes with Hematoxylin and Eosin (HE) staining to detect inflammatory infiltrate and with Masson's Trichrome staining to evaluate the presence of collagen fibers around the fungus. Part of heart was homogenized in lysis buffer for quantification of cytokines such as IL-4, IL-6, IL-10 and TNF-α in the tissue by ELISA method (DuoSet ELISA Development System Mouse kit).
Results
Fungal cells recovered from cardiac tissue were viable and virulent. Histological analyzes by HE staining  revealed the presence of multifocal granulomas composed of interstitial inflammatory infiltrates.  In these inflammatory processes were detected circular birefringent cells with diameter ranging from 6 to 20 μm, which are characteristic of P. brasiliensis. Histological analyzes by Masson's Trichrome staining showed that granulomatous reactions and fungal cells are surrounded and interspersed by fibrous connective tissue, in addition to the presence of collagen fibers, corroborating the ELISA findings that revealed elevated levels of TNF-α in cardiac tissue.

Conclusion
The results obtained in the work reveal that the cardiac tissue present an infection profile similar to those observed in the literature with pulmonary tissue. The fungus has a hematogenous dissemination capacity to the cardiac tissue, colonize and to generate inflammatory responses characteristic of the disease such as a formation of granulomas rich in collagen fibers, which may compromise cardiac function and aggravate the patient's clinical condition. Thus, a characterization of cardiac tissue infection by P. brasiliensis may better target the diagnosis of cardiac problems associated with PCM and indicate more adequate therapeutic measures for the control and treatment of the disease.

IDENTIFICATION OF P. brasiliensis IN THE HEART AND EVALUATION OF CARDIAC INVOLVEMENT OF BALB/c MICE IN EXPERIMENTAL PCM