Terho E O, Mäntijärvi R A, Heinonen O P, Ojanen T H, Vohlonen I, Tukiainen H
Int J Epidemiol. 1985 Dec;14(4):589-93. doi: 10.1093/ije/14.4.589.
The levels of circulating IgG antibodies to Aspergillus umbrosus, Aspergillus fumigatus, Thermoactinomyces vulgaris, and Micropolyspora faeni were determined by enzyme immunoassay in 197 subjects selected for a study of farmer's lung (FL). The material consisted of five study groups: 37 patients with clinically confirmed FL, 31 spouses of the patients, 44 immediate relatives of the patients, 35 immediate relatives of the patients' spouses, and 50 unrelated people who were spouses of the 79 people in both relative groups. The mean titres of IgG antibodies to all four microbes were highest in patients with clinically established FL. In the other groups the mean titre of Aspergillus umbrosus, a mould found much more frequently in Finnish farm environments than other moulds under study, was significantly higher (p less than 0.01) in the relatives of FL patients than in other people. This finding remained irrespective of whether the subjects had suffered from FL symptoms or not or whether they worked or lived on the same farm as the patient or on a different one. The difference in the mean titre was not due to the differences between the study groups in age, sex, smoking habits, atopic background, frequency of handling of plant materials, or time interval from the most recent handling of visibly mouldy hay. The results imply that genetic factors may be important in the IgG antibody response to microbial antigens associated with FL.
通过酶免疫测定法，对197名入选农民肺（FL）研究的受试者检测了针对荫生曲霉、烟曲霉、普通嗜热放线菌和费氏小多孢菌的循环IgG抗体水平。研究材料包括五个研究组：37例临床确诊的FL患者、31例患者配偶、44例患者直系亲属、35例患者配偶的直系亲属以及50名无关人员（他们是两个亲属组中79人的配偶）。在临床确诊的FL患者中，针对所有四种微生物的IgG抗体平均滴度最高。在其他组中，荫生曲霉（在芬兰农场环境中比其他所研究的霉菌更常见的一种霉菌）的平均滴度在FL患者亲属中显著高于其他人（p<0.01）。无论受试者是否有FL症状，无论他们是否与患者在同一个农场工作或生活，还是在不同农场，这一发现均成立。平均滴度的差异并非由于研究组在年龄、性别、吸烟习惯、特应性背景、处理植物材料的频率或距最近一次处理明显发霉干草的时间间隔方面存在差异。结果表明，遗传因素可能在对与FL相关的微生物抗原的IgG抗体反应中起重要作用。
