title: Studies on the osmophilic fungus Wallemia sebi as an allergen evaluated by skin prick test and radioallergosorbent test.
abstract: Recently, Wallemia sebi, a species of osmophilic fungi, has been abundantly detected in house dust using low water activity media. In this study, allergenic activity of W. sebi was assessed by skin prick test and radioallergosorbent test (RAST) in 74 asthmatic patients ranging from 6 to 32 years of age. Aspergillus fumigatus and house dust were used for comparison. In skin prick test, W. sebi extract, A. fumigatus extract and house dust extract elicited positive reactions in 4 (5.4%), 4 (5.4%) and 51 (68.9%) patients, respectively. RAST showed positive results in 14 subjects (18.9%) for W. sebi extract, in 8 (10.8%) for A. fumigatus extract and in 59 (79.7%) for house dust extract. These results indicated that some asthmatic individuals showed immediate-type hypersensitivity to W. sebi, and which means this fungal species may be of importance to atopic diseases as a causative agent.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Nagoya University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sakamoto
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Urisu
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsuda
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Torii
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000485:Allergens / Q000276:immunology*; D000946:Antigens, Fungal / Q000276:immunology*; D001230:Aspergillus / Q000276:immunology; D001249:Asthma / Q000276:immunology; D002648:Child; D004391:Dust; D005658:Fungi / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D011852:Radioallergosorbent Test; D012882:Skin Tests
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D000946:Antigens, Fungal; D004391:Dust