Abstract
Serum specimens were collected from 87 patients with bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (57 patients with aspergilloma, 19 with allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis {ABPA}, 10 with Aspergillus pneumonia and 1 with bronchial stump aspergillosis) and from 81 control subjects including healthy subjects and patients with several kinds of fungal diseases other than aspergillosis : bronchial asthma, pulmonary tuberculosis, lung cancer, candidemia, cryptococcal meningitis and pulmonary nocardiosis.
The sera were tested for cross-reactions between the extracts of Aspergillus fumigatus and other Aspergillus species (A. flauus, A. candidus, A. niger, A. oryzae and A. terreus) and extracts of four other fungi (Penicillium citrinum, Absidia corymbifera, Pseudallescheria boydii and Rhizopus oryzae) by means of the agar gel double diffusion method (DD).
The antigenic extracts (culture filtrates) used were prepared by shake-culturing each fungal strain, followed by filtration, dialysis and freeze-drying.
No cross-reactions occurred between the extracts of A. fumigatus and other Aspergillus species or other fungi except for A. flauus.
Precipitin tests using the extracts of Aspergillus species other than A. fumigatus should also be performed, and cross-reactivity between the extracts of A. fumigatus and A. flavus must be kept in mind at the time of serodiagnosis of bronchopulmonary aspergillosis.
