[Serology of cutaneous sporotrichosis]

Sporothrix schenckii antigens were tested with seventy-nine sera from human cases of sporotrichosis for their value in the serological diagnosis of extracutaneous forms of the disease. 55.7% of the sera reacted in the tube agglutination test; 29.1% of them were positive by counter immunoelectrophoresis and only 7.6% reacted in the simple immunodiffusion test. There was a clear correlation between agglutination titers and the respective reactivity of sera by counter immunoelectrophoresis. By immunoelectrophoresis, 2 different anodic precipitin bands were observed between S. schenckii metabolic antigen and anti-Sporothrix hyperimmune animal sera. Since no false positive reactions were found in sera from patients with other mycoses, and considering the simplicity of the antigen preparation, we agree with previous authors that these methods may be useful for the detection of visceral forms of sporotrichosis.