Assessing allergenic fungi in house dust by floor wipe sampling and quantitative PCR

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Abstract

Abstract In the present study, we modified an existing surface wipe sampling method for lead and other heavy metals to create a protocol to collect fungi in floor dust followed by real‐time quantitative PCR (qPCR)‐based detection. We desired minimal inconvenience for participants in residential indoor environmental quality and health studies. Accuracy, precision, and method detection limits (MDLs) were investigated. Overall, MDLs ranged from 0.6 to 25 cell/cm ² on sampled floors. Overall measurement precisions expressed as the coefficient of variation because of sample processing and qPCR ranged 6–63%. Median and maximum fungal concentrations in house dust in study homes in Visalia, Tulare County, California, were 110 and 2500 cell/cm ², respectively, with universal fungal primers (allergenic and nonallergenic species). The field study indicated samplings in multiple seasons were necessary to characterize representative whole‐year fungal concentrations in residential microenvironments. This was because significant temporal variations were observed within study homes. Combined field and laboratory results suggested this modified new wipe sampling method, in conjunction with growth‐independent qPCR, shows potential to improve human exposure and health studies for fungal pathogens and allergens in dust in homes of susceptible, vulnerable population subgroups.

Practical Implications

Fungi are ubiquitous in indoor and outdoor environments, and many fungi are known to cause allergic reactions and exacerbate asthma attacks. This study established—by modifying an existing—a wipe sampling method to collect fungi in floor dust followed by real‐time quantitative PCR (qPCR)‐based detection methodologies. Results from this combined laboratory and field assessment suggested the methodology’s potential to inform larger human exposure studies for fungal pathogens and allergens in house dust as well as epidemiologic studies of children with asthma and older adults with chronic respiratory diseases.

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Most cited references 30

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Aspergillosis case-fatality rate: systematic review of the literature.

S Lin, J. Schranz, S M Teutsch (2001)

To update the case-fatality rate (CFR) associated with invasive aspergillosis according to underlying conditions, site of infection, and antifungal therapy, data were systematically reviewed and pooled from clinical trials, cohort or case-control studies, and case series of >/=10 patients with definite or probable aspergillosis. Subjects were 1941 patients described in studies published after 1995 that provided sufficient outcome data; cases included were identified by MEDLINE and EMBASE searches. The main outcome measure was the CFR. Fifty of 222 studies met the inclusion criteria. The overall CFR was 58%, and the CFR was highest for bone marrow transplant recipients (86.7%) and for patients with central nervous system or disseminated aspergillosis (88.1%). Amphotericin B deoxycholate and lipid formulations of amphotericin B failed to prevent death in one-half to two-thirds of patients. Mortality is high despite improvements in diagnosis and despite the advent of newer formulations of amphotericin B. Underlying patient conditions and the site of infection remain important prognostic factors.

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Indoor fungal composition is geographically patterned and more diverse in temperate zones than in the tropics.

Anthony S. Amend, Robert Samson, Thomas D. Bruns … (2010)

Fungi are ubiquitous components of indoor human environments, where most contact between humans and microbes occurs. The majority of these organisms apparently play a neutral role, but some are detrimental to human lifestyles and health. Recent studies that used culture-independent sampling methods demonstrated a high diversity of indoor fungi distinct from that of outdoor environments. Others have shown temporal fluctuations of fungal assemblages in human environments and modest correlations with human activity, but global-scale patterns have not been examined, despite the manifest significance of biogeography in other microbial systems. Here we present a global survey of fungi from indoor environments (n = 72), using both taxonomic and phylogeny-informative molecular markers to determine whether global or local indoor factors determine indoor fungal composition. Contrary to common ecological patterns, we show that fungal diversity is significantly higher in temperate zones than in the tropics, with distance from the equator being the best predictor of phylogenetic community similarity. Fungal composition is significantly auto-correlated at the national and hemispheric spatial scales. Remarkably, building function has no significant effect on indoor fungal composition, despite stark contrasts between architecture and materials of some buildings in close proximity. Distribution of individual taxa is significantly range- and latitude-limited compared with a null model of randomized distribution. Our results suggest that factors driving fungal composition are primarily global rather than mediated by building design or function.

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Pulmonary aspergillosis in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: incidence, risk factors, and outcome.

P Gijón, E. Bouza, J Guinea … (2010)

We describe a large series of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and probable invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA), and the risk factors and incidence of the disease in patients with isolation of Aspergillus from lower respiratory tract samples. From 2000 to 2007, we retrospectively studied all patients admitted with COPD and isolation of Aspergillus (239; 16.3/1000 admissions). Multivariate logistic regression and survival curves were used. Fifty-three patients had probable IPA (3.6 cases of IPA per 1000 COPD admissions). IPA affects at least 22.1% of patients with COPD and isolation of Aspergillus in culture. In 33 of the 53 patients with probable IPA, serum galactomannan was determined; in 14 (42.4%) of these, the result was positive. Five variables were independent predictors of IPA with statistical significance: admission to the intensive-care unit, chronic heart failure, antibiotic treatment received in the 3 months prior to admission, the accumulated dosage of corticosteroids equivalent to >700 mg prednisone received in the 3 months prior to admission, and the similar accumulated dosage of corticosteroids received from admission to the first clinical isolation of Aspergillus. Multivariate analysis gave an area under the curve of 0.925 (95% CI 0.888-0.962; p <0.001). The overall mean survival of the cohort was 64.1% (28.3% for IPA patients and 75.2% for non-IPA patients). The median number of days of survival was 48 (95% CI 33.07-62.92). However, we found statistically significant differences between patients with IPA (29 days; 95% CI 20.59-37.40) and patients without IPA (86 days; 95% CI 61.13-110.86) (log rank, p <0.001).

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Indoor Air

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Indoor Air

Journal ID (doi): 10.1111/(ISSN)1600-0668

Journal ID (publisher-id): INA

Title: Indoor Air

Publisher: Blackwell Publishing Ltd (Oxford, UK )

ISSN (Print): 0905-6947

ISSN (Electronic): 1600-0668

Publication date (Electronic): 09 August 2011

Publication date (Print): December 2011

Volume: 21

Issue: 6 ( doiID: 10.1111/ina.2011.21.issue-6 )

Pages: 521-530

Affiliations

[ ¹ ]Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

[ ² ]Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Ichiban‐Cho 8, Chiyoda‐Ku, Tokyo, Japan

[ ³ ]Department of Environmental and Occupational Health and the Center for School and Community‐Based Research and Education, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), School of Public Health (SPH), Piscataway, NJ, USA

[ ⁴ ]Exposure Science Division, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, UMDNJ‐Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA

Author notes

[*]Derek G. Shendell Assistant Professor, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) School of Public Health (SPH) 683 Hoes Lane West 3rd Fl. SPH Bldg., P.O. Box 9 Piscataway, NJ 08854 USA Tel.: +1 732 235 5409; +1 732 235 4988 Fax: +1 732 235 4004; +1 732 235 4960 e‐mail: shendedg@ 123456umdnj.edu

Article

Publisher ID: INA732

DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0668.2011.00732.x

PMC ID: 7201893

PubMed ID: 21767317

SO-VID: fef20056-6ce7-49ad-a1e8-bc5a3e814067

License:

This article is being made freely available through PubMed Central as part of the COVID-19 public health emergency response. It can be used for unrestricted research re-use and analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source, for the duration of the public health emergency.

History

Date received : 14 March 2011

Date accepted : 9 July 2011

Page count

Figures: 4, Tables: 5, Pages: 10

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source-schema-version-number 2.0

cover-date December 2011

details-of-publishers-convertor Converter:WILEY_ML3GV2_TO_JATSPMC version:5.8.0 mode:remove_FC converted:15.04.2020

ScienceOpen disciplines: Health & Social care

Keywords: fungi,house dust,wipe sampling method,qpcr,asthma,allergy

Data availability:

ScienceOpen disciplines: Health & Social care

Keywords: fungi, house dust, wipe sampling method, qpcr, asthma, allergy

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Assessing allergenic fungi in house dust by floor wipe sampling and quantitative PCR

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Abstract

Practical Implications

Related collections

Applied use of fungi

Most cited references 30

Aspergillosis case-fatality rate: systematic review of the literature.

Indoor fungal composition is geographically patterned and more diverse in temperate zones than in the tropics.

Pulmonary aspergillosis in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: incidence, risk factors, and outcome.

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