Quantitation of anti-Pneumocystis jiroveci antibodies in healthy persons and immunocompromised patients.
To facilitate studies of the epidemiology of Pneumocystis jiroveci infection in both healthy persons and immunocompromised patients, we developed a quantitative ELISA with recombinant major surface glycoprotein (MSG) fragment MSG-14, a P. jiroveci-specific protein that includes a highly conserved region of the MSG protein family. By immunoblot, all samples reacted with the carboxyl portion of MSG-14; by ELISA, immunocompromised patients with Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) who were immunocompromised for reasons other than AIDS had higher antibody levels than did either patients with AIDS with PCP (P=.01) or healthy persons (P=.005). Longitudinal observations of 8 patients with AIDS showed no correlation between time of diagnosis of Pneumocystis infection and change in antibody levels. Eleven percent (4/35) of healthy persons demonstrated a >4-fold change in antibody titers during 1 year of observation. This ELISA assay allows quantitation of anti-P. jiroveci antibodies in human serum samples and should be useful in better understanding the epidemiology of P. jiroveci infection in humans.
Bishop
Lisa R
LR
Critical Care Medicine Department, Warren G. Magnuson Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
Kovacs
Joseph A
JA
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D000328:Adult; D000908:Antibodies, Fungal / Q000097:blood*; D001203:Ascomycota / Q000276:immunology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D006262:Health; D006801:Humans; D016867:Immunocompromised Host / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D009181:Mycoses / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology
D000908:Antibodies, Fungal; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins