In Trial 1, 19 lots of Blastomyces dermatitidis (T-58; Tennessee dog isolate) were assayed to determine the stability of the reagents following storage. The reactivity of the antigens, produced from 1989 to 2012 and stored at 4°C, was determined by comparing antibody detection (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; ELISA) in 12 serum specimens from immunized rabbits. All of the 19 reagents produced during this 23-year period exhibited a high degree of stability and were able to detect antibody in the sera. Mean absorbance values ranged from 0.798 (1989) to 0.827 (2012) and a mean value for all 19 antigens of 0.728. In a related evaluation, Trial 2, B. dermatitidis lysate antigens prepared from 8 isolates (dog, human, soil) at two different time periods were assayed as above to determine reactivity. The time of storage between the first and second reagents varied from 4 to 17 years. The results indicated that all 16 of the lysate antigens detected antibody in the 15 rabbit serum specimens with mean absorbance values ranging from 0.346 to 0.682, but variations in reactivity were observed depending on the lysate and the serum specimen assayed. This comparative study provided evidence that the antigenic reagents do exhibit some lot-to-lot variation in reactivity, but they did not lose any appreciable potency during prolonged storage.
Pfaller, M.A. and Diekema, D.J. (2010) Epidemiology of invasive mycoses in North America. Critical Reviews in Microbiology, 36, 1-53. doi:10.3109/10408410903241444
DiSalvo, A.F. (1998) Blastomycosis, in Topley and Wilson’s microbiology and microbial infections. 9th Edition, Arnold Publishers, London, 337-355.
DeGroote, M.A., Bjerke, R., Smith, H. and Rhodes III, L.V. (2000) Expanding epidemiology of blastomycosis: clinical features and investigation of 2 cases in Colorado. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 30, 582-584. doi:10.1086/313717
Bradsher, R.W. (1997) Clinical features of blastomycosis. Seminars in Respiratory Infections, 12, 229-234.
Bradsher, R.W., Chapman, S.W. and Pappas, P.G. (2003) Blastomycosis. Infectious Disease Clinics of North America, 17, 21-40. doi:10.1016/S0891-5520(02)00038-7
Smith, J.A. and Kauffman, C.A. (2012) Pulmonary fungal infections. Respirology, 17, 913-926. doi:10.1111/j.1440-1843.2012.02150.x
Bariola, J.R. and Vyas, K.S. (2011) Pulmonary blastomycosis. Seminars in Respiratory Critical Care Medicine, 32, 745-753. doi:10.1055/s-0031-1295722
McKinnell, J.A. and Pappas, P.G. (2009) Blastomycosis: new insights into diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. Clinical Chest Medicine, 30, 227-239. doi:10.1016/j.ccm.2009.02.003
Saccente, M. and Woods, G.L. (2010) Clinical and laboratory update on blastomycosis. Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 23, 367-381. doi:10.1128/CMR.00056-09
Cutler, J.E., Deepe Jr., G.S. and Klein, B.S. (2007) Advances in combating fungal diseases: Vaccines on the threshold. Nature Review of Microbiology, 5, 13-18. doi:10.1038/nrmicro1537
Vyas, K.S., Bariola, J.R. and Bradsher, R.W. (2008) Advances in the serodiagnosis of blastomycosis. Current Fungal Infection Reports, 2, 227-231. doi:10.1007/s12281-008-0033-z
Clapp, T., Siebert, P., Chen, D. and Braun, L.J. (2011) Vaccines with aluminum-containing adjuvants: Optimizing vaccine efficacy and thermal stability. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 100, 388-401. doi:10.1002/jps.22284
Kim, Y.C., Quan, F.S., Compans, R.W., Kang, S.M. and Prausnitz, M.R. (2010) Formulation and coating of microneedles with inactivated influenza virus to improve vaccine stability and immunogenicity. Journal of Conrolled Release, 142, 187-195. doi:10.1016/j.jconrel.2009.10.013
Brandau, D.T., Jones, L.S., Wiethoff, C.M., Rexroad, J. and Middaugh, C.R. (2003) Thermal stability of vaccines. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 92, 218-231. doi:10.1002/jps.10296
Klein, B.S. and Jones, J.M. (1990) Isolation, purification and radiolabeling of a novel surface protein on Blastomyces dermatitidis yeasts to detect antibody in infected patients. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 85, 152-161. doi:10.1172/JCI114406
Connolly, P., Hage, C.A., Bariola, J.R., Bensadoun, E., Rodgers, M., Bradsher, R.W. and Wheat, J.J. (2012) Blastomyces dermatitidis antigen detection by quantitative enzyme immunoassay. Clinical Vaccine Immunology, 19, 53-56. doi:10.1128/CVI.05248-11
Hage, C.A., Davis, T.E., Egan, L., Parker, M., Fuller, D., LeMonte, A.M., Durkin, D., Connelly, P., Wheat, L.J., Blue-Hindy, D. and Knox, K.A. (2007) Diagnosis of pulmonary histoplasmosis and blastomycosis by detection of antigen in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid using an improved second-generation enzyme-linked immunoassay, Respiratory Medicine, 101, 43-47. doi:10.1016/j.rmed.2006.04.017
Klein, B.S., Squires, R.A., Lloyd, J.K., Ruge, D.R. and Legendre, A.M. (2000) Canine antibody response to Blastomyces dermatitidis WI-1 antigen. American Review of Veterinary Research, 61, 554-558. doi:10.2460/ajvr.2000.61.554
Spector, D., Legendre, A.M., Wheat, J., Bemis, D., Rohrbach, B., Taboada, J. and Durkin, M. (2008) Antigen and antibody testing for the diagnosis of Blastomycosis in dogs. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 22, 839- 843. doi:10.1111/j.1939-1676.2008.0107.x
Bariola, J.R., Hage, C.A., Durkin, M., Bensadoun, E., Gubbins, P.O., Wheat, L.J. and Bradsher, R.W. (2011) Detection of Blastomyces dermatitidis antigen in patients with newly diagnosed blastomycosis. Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, 69, 187-191. doi:10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2010.09.015
Johnson, S.M. and Scalarone, G.M. (1989) Preparation and ELISA evaluation of Blastomyces dermatitidis yeast phase lysate antigens. Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, 11, 81-86. doi:10.1016/0732-8893(88)90076-4
Bono, J.L., Legendre, A.M. and Scalarone, G.M. (1995) Detection of antibodies and delayed hypersensitivity with Rotofor preparative IEF fractions of Blastomyces dermatitidis yeast phase lysate antigens. Journal of Medical and Veterinary Mycology, 33, 209-214. doi:10.1080/02681219580000441
Fisher, M.A., Bono, J.L., Abuodeh, R.O., Legendre, A.M. and Scalarone, G.M. (1995) Sensitivity and specificity of an isoelectric focusing fraction of Blastomyces dermatitidis yeast lysate antigen for the detection of canine blastomycosis.Mycoses, 38, 177-182. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0507.1995.tb00046.x
Axtell, R.C. and Scalarone, G.M. (2002) Serological differences in three Blastomyces dermatitidis strains. Mycoses, 45, 1-6.
Shurley, J.F., Legendre, A.M. and Scalarone, G.M. (2005) Blastomyes dermatitidis antigen detectioni in urine specimens from dogs with blastomycosis using a competitive binding inhibition ELISA. Mycopathologia, 160, 137-142. doi:10.1007/s11046-005-3153-9
Shurley, J.F. and Scalarone, G.M. (2007) Isoelectric focusing and ELISA evaluation of a Blastomyces dermatitidis human isolate. Mycopathologia, 164, 73-76. doi:10.1007/s11046-007-9033-8
Sestero, C.M. and Scalarone, G.M. (2006) Detection of IgG and IgM in Sera from canines with blastomycosis using eight Blastomyces dermatitidis yeast phase lysate antigens. Mycopathologia, 162, 33-37. doi:10.1007/s11046-006-0028-7
Sestero, C.M. and Scalarone, G.M. (2006) Detection of the surface antigens BAD-1 and alpha (1-3) glucan in six different strains of Blastomyces dermatitidis using monoclonal antibodies. Journal of Medical and Biological Science, 1, 1-7.
Hatch, W.O. and Scalarone, G.M. (2009) Comparison of colorimetric and chemiluminescent ELISAs for the detection of antibodies to Blastomyces dermatitidis. Journal of Medical and Biological Sciences, 3, 1-6.
Klein, B.S., Vergeront, J.M., Weeks, R.J., Kumar, U.N., Mathai, G., Varkey, B., Kaufman, L., Bradsher, R.W., Stoebig, J.R. and Davis, J.P. (1986) Isolation of Blastomyces dermatitidis in soil associated with a larger outbreak of blastomycosis in Wisconsin. Journal of Infectious Diseases, 155, 262-268. doi:10.1093/infdis/155.2.262
Levine, H.B., Scalarone. G.M. and Chaparas, S.D. (1977) Preparation of fungal antigens and vaccines: Studies on Coccidioides immitis and Histoplasma capsulatum. Contributions to Microbiology and Immunology, 3, 106-125.
Scalarone, G.M., Levine, H.B. and Chaparas, S.D. (1978) Delayed hypersensitivity responses of experimental animals to histoplasmin from the yeast and mycelial phases of Histoplasma capsulatum. Infection and Immunity, 21, 705-713.