Current and Future Pathways in <i>Aspergillus</i> Diagnosis

Abstract

Aspergillus fumigatus has been designated by the World Health Organization as a critical priority fungal pathogen. Some commercially available diagnostics for many forms of aspergillosis rely on fungal metabolites. These encompass intracellular molecules, cell wall components, and extracellular secretomes. This review summarizes the shortcomings of antibody tests compared to tests of fungal products in body fluids and highlights the application of β-d-glucan, galactomannan, and pentraxin 3 in bronchoalveolar lavage fluids. We also discuss the detection of nucleic acids and next-generation sequencing, along with newer studies on Aspergillus metallophores.

Keywords

• aspergillosis
• galactomannan
• d-glucan%22%2C%22default_operator%22%3A%22AND%22%7D%7D%7D"> β-<span style="font-variant: small-caps">d</span>-glucan
• PCR
• metagenomic next-generation sequencing
• lateral flow