Aspergillus fumigatus sensitization among asthma COPD overlap patients

Recently, many researchers are interested in studying asthma COPD overlap (ACO) group features. Sensitization to Aspergillus has been linked to increased severity of asthma; however, limited data is available about fungal sensitization in ACO group. This study was designed to determine the prevalence of Aspergillus fumigatus (A. fumigatus) sensitization among ACO patients in comparison to asthma patients. This cross-sectional study included 30 patients with ACO, and compared them to 30 asthmatic patients, as regards sensitization to A. fumigatus. Sensitization was diagnosed using skin prick test and specific IgE. Blood eosinophil count, total IgE and pulmonary functions results were also recorded. Thirteen patients with ACO (43.3%) were sensitized to A. fumigatus compared to 8 asthmatic cases (26.7%), P value 0.17. Blood eosinophil count and total IgE were significantly higher among ACO patients compared to asthma group (P values 0.003, 0.007 respectively). Blood eosinophil count was significantly higher among A. fumigatus sensitized ACO patients (400 cells/L) compared to 320 cells/L in non-sensitized ACO subgroup (P value 0.01). Otherwise, they were comparable regarding pulmonary functions and total IgE. In conclusion, Sensitization to A. fumigatus is higher among patients with ACO than that in patients with asthma but without a statistical significance. Moreover, Sensitized ACO patients showed significantly higher blood eosinophil count than non-sensitized ones.