galactomannan and Asthma

Aspergillosis is an opportunistic systemic infection caused by members of. A case-control study was performed to involve 184 subjects, distributing in four groups: 55 patients with RA, 54 with asthma, 27 with both RA and asthma, and 48 healthy individuals. Serum was collected from involved subjects for detection of human. Aspergillosis was more frequently diagnosed in females with RA and both RA and asthma in opposite to the males. It also was found in most common in middle-aged subjects. There was no significant difference in measurement of GM between all patient groups and healthy individuals.. Aspergillosis can develop in either immunocompetent or immunocompromised individuals. Patients with either RA or RA and asthma are more susceptible to acquired aspergillosis than those with only one disease. Application of GM for diagnosis of aspergillosis may show a nonsignificant results when it uses alone and needs other investigation tests.

Topics: Arthritis, Rheumatoid; Aspergillosis; Aspergillus; Asthma; Case-Control Studies; Early Diagnosis; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Female; Galactose; Humans; Male; Mannans; Middle Aged; Sensitivity and Specificity

Few studies have evaluated the performance of serum galactomannan (GM) in patients with allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA). Herein, we analyse the diagnostic performance of serum GM in ABPA. Consecutive subjects with ABPA and asthma underwent GM estimation using the Platelia assay (Bio-Rad Laboratories). An optical density index of >0.5 was considered positive. One hundred and twenty subjects (70 ABPA, 50 asthma) with a mean (SD) age of 33.0 (13.1) were included in the study. The serum GM antigen was positive in 18 (25.7%) subjects with ABPA compared to 9 (18%) subjects with asthma without ABPA (P = 0.32). The sensitivity of the serum GM antigen test in patients with ABPA was 25.7% [95% confidence intervals (CI), 16-38] while the specificity was 82% (95% CI, 69-91). The positive and negative predictive values were 66.7% (95% CI, 46-84%) and 44.1% (95% CI, 34-55), respectively. The area under the ROC curve was 0.54 (95% CI, 0.44-0.64). The sensitivity increased and the specificity decreased with decreasing the serum GM cutoff, and vice versa. The results of this study suggest that serum GM estimation has a limited role in the diagnostic workup of patients with ABPA.

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Antigens, Fungal; Aspergillosis, Allergic Bronchopulmonary; Aspergillus; Asthma; Clinical Laboratory Techniques; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Galactose; Humans; Immunoglobulin E; Male; Mannans; Middle Aged; Predictive Value of Tests; Prospective Studies; ROC Curve; Sensitivity and Specificity; Young Adult