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ELISA MEASUREMENT OF STACHYLYSIN (TM) IN SERUM TO QUANTIFY HUMAN EXPOSURES TO THE INDOOR MOLD STACHYBOTRYS CHARTARUM
Citation:
Van Emon, J M., A W. Reed, I. Yike, AND S J. Vesper. ELISA MEASUREMENT OF STACHYLYSIN (TM) IN SERUM TO QUANTIFY HUMAN EXPOSURES TO THE INDOOR MOLD STACHYBOTRYS CHARTARUM. JOURNAL OF OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL MEDICINE 45(6):582-591, (2003).
Impact/Purpose:
To understand children's risks from exposure to molds in their environment and to explore risk management options for mitigating those risks.
Description:
Antibodies were produced against the hemolytic agent stachylysin obtained from the mold Stachybotryis chartarum. These antibodies were used to develop two enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) methods for the analysis of stachylysin in human and rat sera and environmental samples. ELISA (I) exhibited a linear range of 10 - 300 ng/mL with a limit of detection of 20 ppb for sera and environmental samples. ELISA (II) was used for the detection of low level samples and had a linear range of 1-30 ng/mL. ELISA (I) was used to measure stachylysin in the conidia of indoor fungi. Stachylysin appears to be specific to S. chartarum. Three week old rat pups received nasal instillations of S. chartarum conidia. Stachylysin was detected in their serum; however, control rat serum had no measurable stachylysin. The serum of five adults exposed to S. chartarum in water damaged, moldy environments was pooled and analyzed using ELISA (II). Results were compared to pooled serum from five adults with no known exposure. Serum stachylysin was measured at 371 ng/mL from the exposed group but was not detected in the serum from the control group. The concentrations of stachylysin from wallboard, mycelial and dust samples were also quantified by ELISA. The measurement of stachylysin may be a useful indicator in assessing human exposure to S. chartarum and to determine the presence of the mold in environmental samples.