Fungal extracellular polysaccharides in house dust as a marker for exposure to fungi: Relations with culturable fungi, reported home dampness, and respiratory symptoms

Douwes, Jeroen; Sluis, Betty van der; Doekes, Gert; Leusden, Frans van; Wijnands, Lucas M.; Strien, Rob van; Verhoeff, Arnoud P.; Brunekreef, Bert

doi:10.1016/s0091-6749(99)70476-8

Cited by 126 publications

(78 citation statements)

References 31 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Airborne mold samples, used in many studies as the measure of exposure, are quite variable over time [e.g., seasonal variation (Beaumont et al 1984;Gravesen 1972;Ren et al 1999)] and space [i.e., indoors vs. outdoors (Beaumont et al 1984) or between locations indoors, e.g., basements vs. living rooms (Ren et al 1999)] and as such have drawn criticism when used to represent longer-term levels of exposure (Verhoeff and Burge 1997). Estimates of cumulative exposure to mold from a single point-in-time sample are provided by dust sample analyses of ergosterol (Dharmage et al 2001) or extracellular polysaccharide (Chew et al 2001;Douwes et al 1999). However, results of dust sample analyses are relatively nonspecific because they involve quantification of the aggregate fungal biomass of any molds.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Compared to dust sample analyses that can quantify cumulative exposure to mold in general (e.g., Chew et al 2001;Dharmage et al 2001; Douwes et al 1999), air sampling remains the best way to identify genera and species of molds found in and around a home (Ren et al 1999). Relationships between exposure to mold and respiratory symptoms of children have been explored for airborne samples analyzed as total mold spore counts (Platt et al 1989;Strachan et al 1990;Waegemaekers et al 1989), and as concentrations of specific genera (e.g., Cladosporium, Penicillium, Alternaria, Aspergillus) (Garrett et al 1998;Li et al 1995;Su et al 2001a).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Levels of household mold associated with respiratory symptoms in the first year of life in a cohort at risk for asthma.

Gent

Ren

Belanger

et al. 2002

Environ Health Perspect

138

113

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We assessed prospectively the risk of increased incidence of respiratory symptoms after exposure to particular fungal genera in a susceptible population--namely, infants (n = 880) at high risk for developing asthma. Days of wheeze or persistent cough, information on maternal allergy and asthma, socioeconomic variables, and housing characteristics were collected over the course of the infant's first year of life. Exposure to mold was assessed by airborne samples collected at one time early in the infant's life. Fungi were identified to genus level, recorded as colony-forming units per cubic meter (CFU/m3), and then categorized into four levels: 0 (undetectable), 1-499 CFU/m3 (low), 500-999 CFU/m3 (medium), and greater than or equal to 1,000 CFU/m3 (high). Effects of mold on wheeze and persistent cough, adjusting for potential confounding factors, were examined with Poisson regression analyses. The two most commonly found genera were Cladosporium (in 62% of the homes) and Penicillium (41%). Cladosporium was associated with reported mold (p < 0.02) and water leaks (p < 0.003). Rate of persistent cough was associated with reported mold [Rate ratio (RR) = 1.49; 95% CI, 1.18-1.88]. The highest level of Penicillium was associated with higher rates of wheeze (RR = 2.15; 95% CI, 1.34-3.46) and persistent cough (RR = 2.06; 95% CI, 1.31-3.24) in models controlling for maternal history of asthma and allergy, socioeconomic status, season of mold sample, and certain housing characteristics. We conclude that infants in this high-risk group who are exposed to high levels of Penicillium are at significant risk for wheeze and persistent cough.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Levels of household mold associated with respiratory symptoms in the first year of life in a cohort at risk for asthma.

Gent

Ren

Belanger

et al. 2002

Environ Health Perspect

138

113

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Exposure to EPS was found to significantly reduce the risk of physician-diagnosed asthma [62] and atopic wheeze [10], while exposure to (1,3)-b-Dglucan was significantly inversely related to sensitisation against inhalant allergens among 2-4-yr-old children [13].…”

Section: Mould Components Exposurementioning

confidence: 99%

Association between domestic mould and mould components, and asthma and allergy in children: a systematic review

Tischer¹,

Cm²,

Heinrich³

2011

European Respiratory Journal

145

108

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Critical reviews over the past 10 yrs have found increased respiratory and allergic health outcomes for children living in damp and mouldy environments. However, recent studies have suggested that early childhood exposure to specific mould components may actually protect children from developing allergy.We conducted a systematic review of observational studies published in English from January 1980 to July 2010. This review was conducted according to systematic guidelines for Metaanalyses of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE). The literature was searched using a computerised bibliographic database, PubMed. In order to increase the quality of the reviewed studies, meta-analyses of the effects of visible mould exposure on allergic health outcomes were performed and we evaluated the findings according to the Bradford Hill criteria for evidence of causation.The literature search identified 1,398 peer-reviewed scientific publications, and 61 studies that fulfilled the inclusion criteria were included in this review. We observed increased risks of allergic respiratory health outcomes in children exposed to visible mould and mould spores. These findings were confirmed by the results of the meta-analysis and in line with the evaluation criteria according to Bradford Hill. Visible mould was positively associated with asthma (OR 1.49 (95% CI 1.28-1.72)), wheeze (OR 1.68 (95% CI 1.48-1.90)) and allergic rhinitis (OR 1.39 (95% CI 1.28-1.51)). However, there was a tendency of lower risk for allergic health outcomes in children exposed to mouldderived components such as (1,3)-b-D-glucan and extracellular polysaccharides.These findings suggest that home environments with visible mould and mould spore exposure increase the risk of allergic respiratory health outcomes in children. However, further investigations are needed to examine the effects of exposure to mould-derived components as the current literature is inconclusive. In order to disentangle the different effects of overall microbial exposure on children's health, research should focus on specific microbial markers in the home, in combination with new assessment techniques including molecular methods.

show abstract

“…Chew et al (2001) studied fungal extracellular polysaccharides (EPS), b (1,3)-glucans and culturable fungi in house dust that was sampled at six occasions in 23 Dutch homes during a period of 1 year. They showed that the within-home variation for EPS in house dust was smaller than the between-home variation suggesting that a one-time measurement of EPS (a general marker for fungal biomass in house dust; Douwes et al, 1999) is a good proxy for long-term fungal exposure. The within-home variability for b (1,3)-glucans and culturable fungi was large and in case of fungi even exceeded the between-home variability suggesting that a one-time measurement to assess long-term exposure to fungi may not be valid.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproducibility of allergen, endotoxin and fungi measurements in the indoor environment

Heinrich

Hölscher

Douwes

et al. 2003

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol

Self Cite

100

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Measurements of biocontaminants in settled house dust once a year are commonly used to assess long-term exposure. To examine stability over time and seasonal variation, we measured concentrations of mite and cat allergens, endotoxin and mold spores in living room floor dust in 745 German homes collected twice a year in two different seasons. The study population consisted of adults and children living in five different areas in Germany. All dust samples were collected in a standardized manner from the living room floor and taken during the years 1995 to 1998. The median interval between the two dust samplings was approximately 7 months. Mite and cat allergens were measured in settled house dust by monoclonal antibodies, endotoxin by the limulus amebocyte lysate method, and total spore counts by cultural methods. Crude Pearson's correlation coefficients between logtransformed concentrations in the first and second dust samples ranged between 0.65 and 0.75 for allergens, 0.59 for endotoxin and only 0.06 for total spore counts. The strongest and most consistent seasonal effects were observed for fungi with highest levels in July-September. Cat allergen concentrations were found consistently to be increased in January-March. Mite allergens did not show a strong and consistent seasonal pattern. We conclude that repeated measurements of mite and cat allergens and endotoxin in settled house dust improve the estimate for annual mean concentrations. However, even a single observation of these biocontaminants may be a good proxy for a 1-year exposure since repeated measures were highly correlated. However, repeated measurements of fungi levels were only weakly correlated and thus repeated observations for assessment of annual means of total spore counts are needed.

show abstract

Fungal extracellular polysaccharides in house dust as a marker for exposure to fungi: Relations with culturable fungi, reported home dampness, and respiratory symptoms

Cited by 126 publications

References 31 publications

Levels of household mold associated with respiratory symptoms in the first year of life in a cohort at risk for asthma.

Levels of household mold associated with respiratory symptoms in the first year of life in a cohort at risk for asthma.

Association between domestic mould and mould components, and asthma and allergy in children: a systematic review

Reproducibility of allergen, endotoxin and fungi measurements in the indoor environment

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About