title: Increased immunoglobulin G anti-Paracoccidioides brasiliensis serum antibody avidity as a predictor of favorable posttherapeutic evolution in paracoccidioidomycosis.
abstract: Paracoccidioidomycosis is endemic in Latin America, and ca. 80% of all cases occur in Brazil. Little is known about antibody avidity or the evolution of such avidity in the posttherapeutic period for the different clinical presentations of the disease. In the present study, we evaluated 53 patients with paracoccidioidomycosis and calculated the avidity index. Medium- and high-avidity antibodies were found in 79.5% of patients with chronic presentation (n = 39). Among patients with the acute form (n = 14), 57.1% of the antibodies presented low avidity. In the posttherapeutic period, there was a significant increase in antibody avidity in patients presenting with the chronic multifocal form. In our preliminary study, which needs to be confirmed using a larger number of samples, the optimized method for studying antibody avidity detected differences among the clinical presentations of the mycosis and indicated the value of the avidity index as a marker of posttherapeutic evolution of patients with a multifocal chronic form of the disease.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Moléstias Infecciosas e Parasitárias, Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. marciayoshida@yahoo.com.br
authors.forename: Márcia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Maria Carmen Arroyo
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Sanchez
authors.forename: Maria Aparecida
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Shikanai-Yasuda
mesh_terms: D000908:Antibodies, Fungal / Q000097:blood*; D000915:Antibody Affinity; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001938:Brazil; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood*; D010228:Paracoccidioides / Q000276:immunology*; D010229:Paracoccidioidomycosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology*; D011379:Prognosis; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000908:Antibodies, Fungal; D000935:Antifungal Agents; D007074:Immunoglobulin G