title: Detection of antibodies specific to an antigenic cell wall galactomannoprotein for serodiagnosis of Aspergillus fumigatus aspergillosis.
abstract: Aspergilloma and invasive aspergillosis are important opportunistic infections caused by Aspergillus species, among which Aspergillus fumigatus is the most common species associated with human disease. We developed an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-based antibody assay with Afmp1p, a purified recombinant antigenic cell wall galactomannoprotein of A. fumigatus. Evaluation of the test with guinea pig sera against A. fumigatus and other pathogenic fungi indicated that this assay was specific for A. fumigatus. Clinical evaluation revealed that the assay was 100% sensitive for patients with aspergilloma and 33.3% sensitive for patients with invasive aspergillosis. No false-positive results were found for serum samples from 80 healthy blood donors, 6 patients with typhoid fever, 4 patients with melioidosis, 20 patients with penicilliosis marneffei, 5 patients with candidiasis, and 4 patients with cryptococcosis, indicating a high specificity of the test. Thus, this ELISA-based test for the detection of anti-Afmp1p antibody can be of significant value as a diagnostic for aspergillosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Che-Man
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Patrick C Y
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Woo
authors.forename: Andy S P
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.forename: Susanna K P
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: Xiao-Yan
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Che
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Kwok-Yung
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Yuen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000908:Antibodies, Fungal / Q000097:blood*; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D000946:Antigens, Fungal / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D001228:Aspergillosis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001232:Aspergillus fumigatus / Q000276:immunology*; D003429:Cross Reactions; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006801:Humans; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D000908:Antibodies, Fungal; D000946:Antigens, Fungal; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C449087:galactomannoprotein, Aspergillus fumigatus