Pathogenesis of Allergic Pulmonary Aspergillosis

摘要

Efforts were made to establish an animal model and advance the understanding of the epidemiology of allergic aspergillosis. Immunized and unimmunized monkeys with and without immunoglobulin (Ig) G precipitating antibody to Aspergillus-fumigatus (AF) were injected at multiple sites intradermally with normal human serum or serum high in IgE against AF. Each site was injected with AF 1 day later. Profound skin changes were associated with simian antibody (IgG) and human antibody (IgE) directed against AF. Changes consisted of perivascular and interstitial neutrophilic infiltration at 2 hours, eosinophils at 6, and mononuclear cells at 24 hours. Samples taken of the urban atmosphere in St. Louis indicated the A. fumigatus spore counts in St. Louis were comparable to those obtained in similar studies in the United Kingdom. The lower reported incidence of the disease in the United States as compared to the United Kingdom may result from a failure to recognize the disease entity.