Clinical applications of immunoglobulin G against different individual Aspergillus species for the diagnosis of chronic pulmonary aspergillosis among at-risk populations.

Abstract

Aspergillus fumigatus-specific IgG is often used as a diagnostic test for chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA), but few studies have evaluated the performance and serology of IgGs from species other than A. fumigatus. In this study, we evaluated the serology and performance of different Aspergillus species-specific IgG antibodies in patients with CPA and at-risk populations and whether different Aspergillus species-specific IgGs could be of clinical utility and aid in the diagnosis of CPA caused by all Aspergillus species. A total of 187 participants were included between 2020 and 2022 (12 with CPA, 75 with old tuberculosis [TB], 45 with active TB and 55 with bronchiectasis). We measured the serum Aspergillus fumigatus, flavus, terreus, niger-specific, and mixed Aspergillus IgG levels (Phadia ImmunoCap). The correlation was the strongest between A. fumigatus and A. niger (Spearman's rank: 0.940), followed by A. niger and A. flavus (Spearman's rank: 0.915). A. terreus-specific IgG was less strongly correlated with the other three Aspergillus species-specific IgG (Spearman's rank: 0.828-0.849). A. flavus (4 of 6, 67%) was the dominant species. Using the at-least-one-positive approach, the highest performance was obtained when A. fumigatus and A. flavus IgGs were used (sensitivity, 0.75; specificity, 0.84). Significant cross-reactivity exists among different Aspergillus-species IgGs although the correlation may be less significant for A. terreus. In addition to the commonly used A. fumigatus IgG test, IgGs specific to local prevalent Aspergillus species may provide additional clinical utility.