Potential Pathogens among Fungi Identified as Nonsporulating Molds from Blood Cultures

Comparing ergosterol identification by HPLC with fungal serology in human sera

Background

Ergosterol, a predominant sterol in fungal cell membranes, holds promise as a specific marker for detecting fungal presence in human samples. This study investigated the performance of ergosterol detection compared to serological tests in identifying the presence of fungi in human sera.

Methods

Eighty-four non-duplicate human sera were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for ergosterol detection. Results were compared to serological tests for Aspergillus antigen, Candida antigen, Cryptococcus antigen, Aspergillus antibody and Candida antibody performed on the same patient sera.

Results

Out of the 84 serum samples, 51 (60.7 %) were positive for ergosterol. Among the 33 serology-positive sera, 26 (78.8 %) were also ergosterol-positive. In contrast, 26 out of 51 (51 %) serology-negative sera (including 20 negative controls) tested negative for ergosterol. Seven out of 33 (21.2 %) serology-positive sera were ergosterol-negative, while 25 out of 51 (49 %) serology-negative sera were ergosterol-positive. Compared to serological tests, HPLC detection of ergosterol had a sensitivity of 78.8 %, specificity of 51 %, positive predictive value of 51 %, negative predictive value of 78.8 % and overall accuracy of 61.9 %.

Conclusions

Ergosterol detection may serve as a useful supplementary tool for identifying fungi in human sera, acting as a broad-spectrum diagnostic marker. However, further research with larger sample sizes and clinical comparisons is needed to validate these findings.

Overview of fermentation process: structure-function relationship on protein quality and non-nutritive compounds of plant-based proteins and carbohydrates

Demands for high nutritional value-added food products and plant-based proteins have increased over the last decade, in line with the growth of the human population and consumer health awareness. The quality of the plant-based proteins depends on their digestibility, amino acid content, and residues of non-nutritive compounds, such as phenolic compounds, anti-nutritional compounds, antioxidants, and saponins. The presence of these non-nutritive compounds could have detrimental effects on the quality of the proteins. One of the solutions to address these shortcomings of plant-based proteins is fermentation, whereby enzymes that present naturally in microorganisms used during fermentation are responsible for the cleavage of the bonds between proteins and non-nutritive compounds. This mechanism has pronounced effects on the non-nutritive compounds, resulting in the enhancement of protein digestibility and functional properties of plant-based proteins. We assert that the types of plant-based proteins and microorganisms used during fermentation must be carefully addressed to truly enhance the quality, functional properties, and health functionalities of plant-based proteins.Supplemental data for this article is available online at here. show.