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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, March 2008, p. 1009-1013, Vol. 46, No. 3
0095-1137/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.02091-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Contribution of the (1->3)-β-D-Glucan Assay for Diagnosis of Invasive Fungal Infections{triangledown}

Florence Persat,1* Stéphane Ranque,2 Francis Derouin,3 Annie Michel-Nguyen,2 Stéphane Picot,1 and Annie Sulahian3

Hospices Civils de Lyon, Hôpital Edouard Herriot, Service de Parasitologie, Mycologie Médicale et Maladies Tropicales, Lyon, France,1 Laboratoire de Parasitologie-Mycologie, AP-HM Timone, Marseille, France,2 Laboratoire de Parasitologie-Mycologie, Hôpital Saint Louis, Paris, France3

Received 29 October 2007/ Returned for modification 6 December 2007/ Accepted 14 December 2007

Diagnosis of invasive fungal infection (IFI) remains a challenge. A retrospective study was performed on 279 patients at three French university hospitals to evaluate the performance of the (1->3)-β-D-glucan assay (BG assay; Fungitell; Associates of Cape Cod, Inc.) for the diagnosis of IFI. The results of one serum per subject were analyzed for 117 patients who had probable or proven IFI according to the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer criteria (70 invasive pulmonary aspergilloses [IPA], 27 fungal bloodstream infections, and 20 Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonias), 40 blood donors, and 122 patients who were hospitalized in hematology wards or intensive care units and were at risk for IFI but in whom IFI had not been diagnosed. For the overall IFI diagnosis, the BG assay had 77.8% sensitivity and specificities of 92.5 and 70.5% for blood donors and patients at risk, respectively. The assay was positive in 48 patients with IPA (68%), in 23 with bloodstream infections (85.2%), and in all who had P. jiroveci pneumonias (100%), and the false-positive rate varied depending on the controls used. It allowed a higher rate of detection among IPA patients compared to the galactomannan enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (48 versus 39 patients, respectively) and among candidemia patients compared to the mannan ELISA (20 versus 11 patients, respectively). This assay therefore appears to be useful in the diagnosis of IFI, particularly for serum analysis of pneumocystosis pneumonia patients, but further studies are needed to evaluate false-positive rates and its future role in IFI diagnosis.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Service de Parasitologie, Mycologie Médicale et Maladies Tropicales, Hôpital Edouard Herriot, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Domaine Rockefeller, 8 Avenue Rockefeller, 69373 Lyon, Cedex 08, France. Phone: 33-4-78777547. Fax: 33-4-78777229. E-mail: florence.persat{at}univ-lyon1.fr

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 26 December 2007.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, March 2008, p. 1009-1013, Vol. 46, No. 3
0095-1137/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.02091-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Cuetara, M. S., Alhambra, A., Moragues, M. D., Gonzalez-Elorza, E., Ponton, J., del Palacio, A. (2009). Detection of (1->3)-{beta}-D-Glucan as an Adjunct to Diagnosis in a Mixed Population with Uncommon Proven Invasive Fungal Diseases or with an Unusual Clinical Presentation. CVI 16: 423-426 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Hachem, R. Y., Kontoyiannis, D. P., Chemaly, R. F., Jiang, Y., Reitzel, R., Raad, I. (2009). Utility of Galactomannan Enzyme Immunoassay and (1,3) {beta}-D-Glucan in Diagnosis of Invasive Fungal Infections: Low Sensitivity for Aspergillus fumigatus Infection in Hematologic Malignancy Patients. J. Clin. Microbiol. 47: 129-133 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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