New cause for false-positive results with the Pastorex Aspergillus antigen latex agglutination test

Abstract

The Pastorex Aspergillus antigen test for detection of Aspergillus galactomannan antigen in the sera of patients with invasive aspergillosis is used in many clinical laboratories. A serum sample contaminated with Penicillium chrysogenum gave a strongly positive reaction (1:128) which was heat stable, was not eliminated by pronase treatment, and was not detected by a normal rabbit globulin control. This observation was shown to be due to cross-reactions of the monoclonal antibody EB-A2 used by the kit with several airborne fungi likely to contaminate serum samples, including Penicillium chrysogenum, Cladosporium herbarum, Acremonium species, Alternaria alternata, Fusarium oxysporum, Wangiella dermatitidis, and Rhodotorula rubra.