Steixner S, Vahedi Shahandashti R, Siller A, Ulmer H, Reider N, Schennach H, Lass-Flörl C. Aspergillus terreus Antibody Serosurveillance in Tyrol: A Population-Based, Cross-Sectional Study of a Healthy Population.
J Fungi (Basel) 2023;
9:1008. [PMID:
37888264 PMCID:
PMC10607556 DOI:
10.3390/jof9101008]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2023] [Revised: 10/06/2023] [Accepted: 10/11/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023] Open
Abstract
The rare, but emerging mold Aspergillus terreus is an important pathogen in some geographical areas, like Tyrol (Austria) and Houston (Texas). The reason for this high prevalence is unknown. The present serosurveillance study aimed to evaluate the trends in levels of A. terreus-specific IgG antibodies in various regions of Tyrol and to compare the results to the environmental spread of A. terreus in Tyrol. Therefore, 1058 serum samples from healthy blood donors were evaluated. Data revealed a significant difference between the Tyrolean Upland and Lowland. Moreover, female participants had higher A. terreus IgG antibody levels than male participants. The differences found in our study are consistent with the distributional differences in environmental and clinical samples described in previous studies, supporting that A. terreus IgG antibody levels reflect the environmental epidemiology of A. terreus in Tyrol.
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