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The Influence of Schizophyllum commune on Asthma Severity

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Abstract

Background

The sensitization and exposure to fungal allergens have been reported to be associated with asthma. The aim of this study was to clarify the impact of sensitization to Schizophyllum commune (S. commune) on the severity and exacerbations of asthma.

Methods

Ninety-two patients with asthma of various levels of severity [mild (n = 18), moderate (28), and severe (46)] and exacerbation severity [moderate (n = 43) and severe (6)] were retrospectively examined with regard to fungal sensitization such as specific IgE or intradermal skin reactions against S. commune and other common allergens. We also classified the patients into three groups: (1) three or more asthma attacks during the past year (F-BA) (n = 29),(2) one or two asthma attacks (NF-BA) (n = 20), and (3) no asthma attack (C-BA) (n = 43).

Results

The positive rate of late cutaneous reactions to S. commune was higher in patients with severe asthma (41.2%) than with moderate (26.1%) or mild asthma (6.7%), and was significantly different among the three groups (P < 0.05). Although the ratio did not show a significant difference between the patients with severe (83.3%) or moderate (36.1%) exacerbation, it was higher in F-BA (60.9%) than in NF-BA (21.1%) and C-BA patients (10.0%), and it was significantly different among the three groups (P = 0.0002). Multivariate analysis identified positive results for late-phase skin reactions to S. commune and the age of the patients as an independent determinant of asthma severity, and the skin results and %FVC an independent determinant of exacerbation frequency.

Conclusion

This study demonstrated that S. commune is an environmental fungus that appears to enhance both the severity of asthma and the exacerbation frequency.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. Masakatsu Seo (Seo Laboratory) for extending his help in the macroscopic identification of the fungal species, Dr. Kazuo Akiyama (Clinical Research Center for Allergy and Rheumatology, National Hospital Organization, Sagamihara National Hospital) for preparing the antigenic solution, and honorary professor Hideyo Yamaguchi (Teikyo University) for supporting our a series of studies. This study was supported in part by a grant-in-aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports Science and Technology Japan (No. 17607003).

Conflict of interest

All the authors declare that they have no competing interests that might be perceived to influence the results and discussion reported in the present article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Ishikawa-ken Saiseikai Kanazawa Hospital, Ni 13-6 Akatsuchi-machi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, 920-0353, Japan

    Haruhiko Ogawa

  2. Respiratory Medicine, Cellular Transplantation Biology, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kanazawa, Japan

    Masaki Fujimura

  3. Division of Respiratory Medicine and Clinical Allergy, Fujita Health University, Toyoake, Japan

    Yasuo Takeuchi

  4. Department of Molecular Biology and Gene Diagnosis, Institute of Medical Mycology and Genome Research Center, Graduate School of Medical Science, Teikyo University, Hachioji, Japan

    Koichi Makimura

Authors
  1. Haruhiko Ogawa
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  2. Masaki Fujimura
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  3. Yasuo Takeuchi
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  4. Koichi Makimura
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Haruhiko Ogawa.

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Ogawa, H., Fujimura, M., Takeuchi, Y. et al. The Influence of Schizophyllum commune on Asthma Severity. Lung 189, 485–492 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00408-011-9320-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00408-011-9320-5

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