1991 Volume 40 Issue 10 Pages 1320-1326
Recently Aspergillus restrictus, a species of osmophilic fungi, has been found to be widely distributed in our inhabited environment. The authors reported previously that the prevalence of hypersensitivity to this fungal species determined by skin prick test and radioallergosorbent test (RAST) was comparable with that to Aspergillus fumigatus. In this study, the allergenic relationships between the two fungi were examined by RAST and RAST inhibition tests in which A. restrictus extracts prepared from mycelial mats of two different strains cultured in M40Y liquid medium and A. fumigatus, one made from a mycelial mat cultured in YNB liquid medium containing 3% sucrose, were used. In the RAST inhibition tests using a serum pool obtained from five patients with highly positive RAST to these species, the two extracts of A. restrictus inhibited RAST to A. fumigatus by over 80%, and A. fumigatus extract inhibited RAST to the two strains of A. restrictus by approximately 75%. In A. fumigatus RAST inhibition tests using individual sera with positive A. fumigatus RAST, a strong inhibition (>60%) elicited by each extract of A. restrictus was observed in 5 of 8 sera tested. In RAST, nine of 11 serum samples with positive RAST to A. fumigatus showed positive RAST to both strains of A. restrictus. There was a significant correlation between the RAST values of the two fungal species. These results give evidence of the presence of shared allergenic components between the two fungi, and indicate that these components may contain part of major allergens of A. fumigatus.
