In Search of Clinical Markers : Indicators of Exposure in Dampness and Mold Hypersensitivity Syndrome (DMHS)

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Volume Title

A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä

Date

2023-03

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Language

en

Pages

24

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Journal of Fungi, Volume 9, issue 3

Abstract

Potential markers were sought to diagnose mold hypersensitivity. Indoor air condensed water and human macrophage THP-1 test were applied to evaluate the buildings. Basophil activation tests (BAT) were conducted and mold-specific immunoglobulins (IgE, IgG, IgA, and IgD) were measured in study subjects’ serum and feces. Exposed subjects reported markedly more symptoms from occupational air than controls. Basophils from exposed subjects died/lost activity at 225 times lower concentrations of toxic extracts from the target building than recommended in the common BAT protocol. Fecal IgG and IgD levels against Acrostalagmus luteoalbus and Aspergillus versicolor produced receiver operating curves (ROC) of 0.928 and 0.916, respectively, when plotted against the inflammation marker MRP8/14. Assaying serum immunoglobulin concentrations against the toxic Chaetomium globosum (MTAV35) from another building, a test control, did not differentiate study individuals. However, if liver metabolism produced the same core molecule from other Chaetomium globosum strains, this would explain the increased response in fecal immunoglobulins in the exposed. The altered immunoglobulin values in the samples of exposed when compared to controls revealed the route of mold exposure. The toxicity of indoor air condensed water samples, BAT and serology confirmed the severity of symptoms in the target building’s employees, supporting earlier findings of toxicity in this building.

Description

Funding Information: M.M. and T.H. were funded by FICAM Institute, University of Tampere, Finland. We thank Tom Böhling from Medicum Helsinki for supporting part of the laboratory costs of the study. The economic support for K.V., K.M.E., came from the Finnish Work Environmental Fund (114168). M.A.A. fundings were from The Finnish Work Environmental Fund (112286), and The Academy of Finland (TOXICPM grant number 289161). The funders had no role in the design of the study nor in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data, in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.

Keywords

basophils, calprotectin, dampness and mold hypersensitivity, fecal, IgD, immunoglobulins, mycotoxins, sick-building syndrome

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Citation

Vaali, K, Ekumi, K M, Andersson, M A, Mannerström, M & Heinonen, T 2023, ' In Search of Clinical Markers : Indicators of Exposure in Dampness and Mold Hypersensitivity Syndrome (DMHS) ', Journal of Fungi, vol. 9, no. 3, 332 . https://doi.org/10.3390/jof9030332