title: [Clinical usefulness of the (1-->3)-beta-D-glucan measurement kit using the improved alkaline pretreatment method--comparison with conventional method].
abstract: We had reported that the rate of non-specific reaction in measurement of (1-->3)-beta-D-glucan was decreased by improvement of the alkaline pretreatment reagent of Fungitec G-test MK (MK assay). To compare the clinical usefulness between conventional MK assay and new MK assay using improved alkaline pretreatment reagent, 121 plasma samples were tested. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive values (NPV) in conventional MK assay were 91.7%, 85.3%, 44.0% and 98.8%, respectively. Those in new MK assay were 75.0%, 91.6%, 52.9% and 96.7%, respectively. On the other hand, area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis in conventional and new MK assay was 0.9175 and 0.9123 without a significant difference. It has been recognized that the sensitivity in conventional MK assay is higher than those in other beta-glucan assays. Then, the specificity of new MK assay was improved by using improved alkaline pretreatment reagent, without decreasing the sensitivity. Thus, the present findings indicate that the new MK assay is clinically quite useful.
authors.affiliation: Division of Respiratory Diseases, Department of Medicine, Kawasaki Medical School.
authors.forename: Koichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Naoyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Miyashita
authors.forename: Yasushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Obase
authors.forename: Minoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fukuda
authors.forename: Hisashi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Syoji
authors.forename: Shinichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yagi
authors.forename: Keiji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mohri
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kobashi
authors.forename: Yoshihito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Niki
authors.forename: Mikio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oka
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000468:Alkalies / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009181:Mycoses / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D047071:beta-Glucans / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000468:Alkalies; D047071:beta-Glucans