Abstract
The clinical usefulness of the Toxicolor test (T-test) and Endospecy test (E-test) was evaluated in 96 children with fever of unknown origin. T-test detects endotoxin from gram negative rod (GNR) and β-D-glucan from fungus, while the E-test detects only endotoxin. Fifteen patients were considered to have fungal infections by the difference which was larger than 10 pg/ml between the T-test and E-test (T-E) values. Three cases (T-E= 117.7-217.8 pg/ml) were proved to have fungal infections of internal organs. Four cases (T-E=23.8-31.7 pg/ml) were proved to have skin and mucous membrane fungal infections. Thirty-eight patients (E-test >3 pg/ml) were suggested to have GNR infections. In these patients, 6 (E-test =18.7-96.9 pg/ml) were proved to have GNR infections. Some cases showed false posibility of the T-test was related with the use of gammaglobulin, glycerol, transfer factor and interferon. The T-test and E-test were a useful methods for the possible diagnosis of fungal and GNR infections, but the effect of the above substances on the test results should be born in mind.
