JCM Figure table search 04
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Other Versions of this Article:
JCM.02327-07v1
46/4/1391    most recent
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Mennink-Kersten, M. A. S. H.
Right arrow Articles by Verweij, P. E.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Mennink-Kersten, M. A. S. H.
Right arrow Articles by Verweij, P. E.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, April 2008, p. 1391-1397, Vol. 46, No. 4
0095-1137/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.02327-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Improved Detection of Circulating Aspergillus Antigen by Use of a Modified Pretreatment Procedure{triangledown}

Monique A. S. H. Mennink-Kersten,1,4* Dorien Ruegebrink,1,4 Rocus R. Klont,1,4 Adilia Warris,2,4 Nicole M. A. Blijlevens,3,4 J. Peter Donnelly,3,4 and Paul E. Verweij1,4

Departments of Medical Microbiology,1 Pediatric Infectious Diseases,2 Hematology,3 Nijmegen University Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands4

Received 4 December 2007/ Returned for modification 9 January 2008/ Accepted 6 February 2008

Detection of circulating galactofuranose (galf) antigens, including galactomannan (GM), by the Platelia Aspergillus (PA) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is an important tool in the early diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis (IA). We used a modified pretreatment technique (MT) on consecutive negative PA ELISA plasma samples from IA patients in order to improve the detection of the fungal components present. Plasma samples (52) were collected from healthy donors, and 174 plasma samples with a galactomannan index (GMI) below 0.5 were collected from 25 unclassifiable and 23 IA patients. The PA ELISA reactivity of pretreated samples was determined before (conventional technique [CT]) and after (MT) filtration using a Microcon filter with a 50-kDa cutoff (Millipore). For the MT, the sensitivity of the PA ELISA increased from 42.9% (CT) to 78.6% (MT) using a cutoff for the GMI of 1.5 in the probable and proven group, whereas specificity slightly decreased from 98.7% to 96.1% in the control group. The 10-fold concentration step increased the GMI as high as 121-fold. The MT resulted not only in positive reactivity in samples that tested negative with the CT but also in the earlier detection of antigen by 2 to 17 days.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Medical Microbiology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, P.O. Box 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Phone: 31-24-3614356. Fax: 31-24-3540216. E-mail: monique.mennink{at}gmail.com

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 20 February 2008.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, April 2008, p. 1391-1397, Vol. 46, No. 4
0095-1137/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.02327-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. Clin. Microbiol. Rev.
Clin. Vaccine Immunol. ALL ASM JOURNALS

Copyright © 2008 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.