Korean J Asthma Allergy Clin Immunol.  2009 Mar;29(1):33-38.

Skin Prick Tests and Allergen-specific IgE Tests for Fungus in Patients with Chronic Lower Respiratory Symptoms

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Skin prick tests (SPTs) has relatively a good correlation with allergen-specific IgE against house dust mites and pollens, whereas their correlation to fungi remains low.
OBJECTIVE
We aimed to investigate the prevalence and correlation between fungus-specific IgE and SPTs in patients with chronic lower respiratory symptoms. The difference between fungus-specific IgE-positive and -negative groups was also examined. METHOD: A total of 566 patients were included in this study, all of whom had either negative SPT results, positive for one or more fungi, or positive for dusts or mixed threshings. RESULT: SPTs and allergen-specific IgE tests for fungus were positive in 9.4% and 11.8% of the patients, respec-tively. The positive concordance rate for fungus-specific IgE with SPTs was 47%. The k statistic for the agreement between SPTs and fungus-specific IgE test was 0.349. In all populations negative for SPTs, total eosinophil counts, total IgE, ECP and bronchial reversibility were higher in the fungus-specific IgE-positive group. In the group that tested only positive for dusts or mixed threshings with SPTs, total IgE and bronchial hyperresponsiveness were higher in the fungus-specific IgE-positive group (P<.05).
CONCLUSION
The rate of successful detection of fungus using SPTs was low compared to a fungus-specific IgE. Thus, fungus-specific IgE may be useful to detect fungus allergies in patients with chronic lower respiratory symptoms.

MeSH Terms

Allergens
Dust
Eosinophils
Fungi
Humans
Hypersensitivity
Immunoglobulin E
Pollen
Prevalence
Pyroglyphidae
Skin
Skin Tests
Allergens
Dust
Immunoglobulin E