title: Monitoring gp43 antigenemia in Paracoccidioidomycosis patients during therapy.
abstract: Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) is a systemic fungal disease that is particularly important among individuals living and working in rural areas of endemicity in Latin America. Detection of anti-Paracoccidioides brasiliensis antibodies is of limited value due to false-negative results. Detection of P. brasiliensis-gp43 circulating antigen is a practical approach for a specific diagnosis of the disease. In a previous study we described an inhibition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay able to detect the 43-kDa P. brasiliensis antigen in sera of 100% of patients with the acute form of PCM and in 95.31 and 100% of patients with the chronic multifocal and unifocal forms of PCM. To investigate its potential application for the follow-up of PCM patients during treatment, antigen levels were monitored at regular intervals for up 8 to 12 months in serum samples from 23 patients. The results showed that treatment with itraconazole resulted in decreasing levels of circulating gp43 that were correlated with the reduction of anti-gp43 antibodies. It was also observed that by the end of 12 months of treatment gp43 levels were <5 microg/ml in all patients.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Disciplina de Biologia Celular, 04023-062, Rua Botucatu 862/8 degrees andar, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Silvia Helena
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Marques da Silva
authors.forename: Flávio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Queiroz-Telles
authors.forename: Arnaldo Lopes
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Colombo
authors.forename: Maria Heloisa Souza Lima
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Blotta
authors.forename: José Daniel
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.forename: Zoilo
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Pires De Camargo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000946:Antigens, Fungal / Q000097:blood*; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010229:Paracoccidioidomycosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology; D029867:Xenopus Proteins / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: C103180:43 kDa protein, Paracoccidioides; D000946:Antigens, Fungal; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D006023:Glycoproteins; D029867:Xenopus Proteins