Mycological diagnosis of pulmonary Aspergillus infections with a focus on serological methods

Aspergillus are ubiquitous fungi that can cause serious illnesses in susceptible individuals. The most commonly infected organ is the lungs. The severity of the disease depends on the degree of the invasion of the lung tissue by fungi, which rises proportionally with the development of immunodeficiency. The only way to clearly determine the degree to which the lungs have been invaded is to carry out a histological examination of a sample of the infected tissue. Conventional mycological methods can detect the presence of the fungus in samples from a patient's airways by using microscopy or culture techniques. Furthermore, it is possible to determine the presence of the specific Aspergillus antigen, galactomannan, and of non-specific beta-D-glucan in the serum or bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. The detection of antibodies against Aspergillus is only relevant for chronic forms of the disease. This article discusses the benefits of different mycological examination methods in the diagnosis of various forms of pulmonary aspergillosis.