[Clinical utility of serum Candida mannan antigen detection kits using ELISA]

The clinical utility of two serum Candida mannan antigen detection kits with ELISA, UNIMEDI Candida and PLATERIA Candida Ag, was investigated. Thirty-four serum samples from 12 cases with candidemia diagnosed at Kawasaki Medical School Hospital in 1999 and 15 samples from 15 healthy volunteer were examined. The sensitivities and specificities of the two kits were 82.1% and 40.0%, 100% and 100% respectively. This sensitivity was higher than that achieved with the conventional methods. However, it was realized that the discrepancy between the sensitivity of these two kits was quite significant. This may have been caused by a difference in the reactivities of the respective kits against different species of Candida. A combined application of these methods and other supportive diagnostic methods, such as serum (1-->3)-beta-D-glucan detection, will improve their utility. A larger number of cases should be evaluated to clarify the characteristics of these new kits.