Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2000 Apr;38(4):1434-8.
doi: 10.1128/JCM.38.4.1434-1438.2000.

Quantitative galactomannan detection is superior to PCR in diagnosing and monitoring invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in an experimental rat model

M J Becker  1 , S de Marie, D Willemse, H A Verbrugh, I A Bakker-Woudenberg
Affiliations

Quantitative galactomannan detection is superior to PCR in diagnosing and monitoring invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in an experimental rat model

M J Becker et al. J Clin Microbiol. 2000 Apr.

Abstract

Two diagnostic tests, an Aspergillus-specific PCR and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the quantitative determination of galactomannan, were compared for diagnosing and monitoring invasive pulmonary aspergillosis. Persistently neutropenic rats with left-sided invasive pulmonary aspergillosis were sacrificed at regular intervals after inoculation. Blood samples and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid were cultured and tested by PCR as well as by ELISA. Disseminated fungal infection in extrapulmonary organs was determined. The sensitivity of the ELISA was higher than that of the PCR on all days of measurements, in both blood and BAL fluid. Positive PCR or ELISA results in blood were not significantly associated with disseminated fungal infection. Serial testing in a separate group of rats showed consistently increasing concentrations of circulating galactomannan during the course of disease, while a positive PCR could be followed by negative results. The concentration of galactomannan was highly predictive for the time of survival (P < 0.0001). It was concluded that, in this model, quantitative galactomannan detection is superior to PCR in diagnosing and monitoring invasive pulmonary aspergillosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIG. 1
FIG. 1
Representative callibration curve of the sandwich ELISA, prepared in sixfold dilutions with known concentrations of GM in rat serum. Each point represents the mean ± the SD (bars) optical density at 450 nm. The detection limit of the assay is indicated as a dashed line.
FIG. 2
FIG. 2
GM in the blood of individual rats with IPA after sequential sampling. One line represents one rat. (Inset) Relationship between GM concentrations and time to death.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Aisner J, Wiernik P H, Schimpff S C. Treatment of invasive aspergillosis: relation of early diagnosis and treatment to response. Ann Intern Med. 1977;86:539–543. - PubMed
    1. Armstrong D. Overview of invasive fungal infections and clinical presentation. In: Meunier F, et al., editors. Balliere's clinical infectious diseases. Vol. 2. London, United Kingdom: Balliere Tindal; 1995. pp. 17–24.
    1. Boom R, Sol C J, Salimans M M, Jansen C L, Wertheim-van Dillen P M, van der Noordaa J. Rapid and simple method for purification of nucleic acids. J Clin Microbiol. 1990;28:495–503. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bretagne S, Costa J M, Bart-Delabesse E, Dhedin N, Rieux C, Cordonnier C. Comparison of serum galactomannan antigen detection and competitive polymerase chain reaction for diagnosing invasive aspergillosis. Clin Infect Dis. 1998;26:1407–1412. - PubMed
    1. Crampin A C, Matthews R C. Application of the polymerase chain reaction to the diagnosis of candidosis by amplification of an HSP 90 gene fragment. J Med Microbiol. 1993;39:233–238. - PubMed

MeSH terms