Immunogenicity of fungi for the production of reaginic antibody in the rat.

Immunogenicity of culture filtrates of various air-born fungi with respect to reaginic antibody formation was tested in the rat. Animals immunized with two successive injections of culture filtrates of fungi with the aid of Bordetella pertussis vaccine as an adjuvant produced fairly high titers of reaginic antibodies of the IgE class. Little cross-reactivity was detected between reagins induced by different strains of fungi. The reaginic immunogenicity was only found in the culture fieltrate produced by the surface culture, in which large amounts of conidia were formed, but not in the filtrate obtained from the shaking culture, in which only mycelial components were growing. Therefore, it was suggested that allergens responsible for the reaginic antibody formation derive from the conidium but not from the mycelium. The results indicate that air-born fungi are potentially immunogenic for production of reaginic antibodies, and further suggest their causative roles in human atopic diseases.