Serum antibodies toAspergillus fumigatus catalase in patients with cystic fibrosis

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Abstract
Seven to ten percent of patients with cystic fibrosis had serum antibodies to the catalase antigen ofAspergillus fumigatus in three cross-sectional surveys between 1977 and 1984. A total of 208 patients participated at least once, and the cumulated frequency of catalase antibodies in 94 patients included in all three surveys was 16 %. The titer range was 1 to 16. The prevalence rate ofAspergillus fumigatus in sputum was 50 % for a 2.5-year observation period. Catalase antibodies were strongly associated with the occurrence ofAspergillus fumigatus in sputum (p=0.003), and the microorganism was more numerous in colonized patients with catalase antibodies than in those without such antibodies (p=0.004). Patients withAspergillus fumigatus in sputum and a positive catalase antibody test tended to have an adverse development as regards lung function compared to both carriers without antibodies and non-carriers. The observed differences could not, however, be related to different rates of chronicPseudomonas aeruginosa infection.

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