The systemic fungal infection, blastomycosis, which infects both humans and animals has presented a diagnostic challenge for clinicians for many years. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic sensitivity of Blastomyces dermatitidis yeast lysate antigens with respect to antibody detection in dogs with blastomycosis. Lysate antigens were prepared from B. dermatitidis isolates T-58 and T-66 (dogs, Tennessee) and WI-R and WI-J (dogs, Wisconsin). Based on results obtained from a preliminary comparative study, five combinations of these isolates and one individual isolate were tested against 92 serum specimens from dogs with culture-proven or histologically-confirmed blastomycosis, using the indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Mean absorbance values obtained from the sera ranged from 0.905 with the individual T-58 antigen to 1.760 using an antigen combination (T-58 + T-66 + WI-R). All of the 6 antigenic preparations were able to detect antibody in the serum specimens, but the antigen combinations detected antibody to a higher degree than the individual antigen. This study provides evidence that combinations of the yeast lysate reagents seem to be more efficacious for antibody detection in dog sera, but our laboratory is continuing to evaluate antigen lysate combinations for detection of antibodies in blastomycosis. 1. Introduction Blastomycosis, a systemic fungal infection of humans and animals, is produced by the dimorphic fungal organism Blastomyces dermatitidis. The infection is initiated by the inhalation of spores produced by the filamentous phase of the fungus. The organism exists in this stage in nature or in the laboratory at 25°C and has the ability to convert to the yeast phase at 37°C in the lungs of the infected host. The disease may be self-resolving or it may exist as an acute or chronic state in the pulmonary tissue. If the disease is untreated while in the lungs, it may become invasive and disseminate to other organs and possibly to the central nervous system where fatal meningitis may develop [1–5]. Blastomycosis, as well as other systemic mycoses, are termed “emerging fungal threats” since they not only infect persons with normal immune systems but are also a cause for concern in immunocompromised individuals [3, 4]. The geographic distribution of blastomycosis has been associated with southeastern and south-central states that border the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and upper midwestern states including areas in Wisconsin and Minnesota, which are highly endemic for the disease [6, 7]. Due to the increase in
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