ABSTRACT

β-glucan is a major component of fungal cell walls and shows various immunopharmacological activities including antitumor activity. Previously, we detected anti-β-glucan antibody in human sera. Anti-β-glucan antibody participates in the immune response to fungal cell wall β-glucan. Patients on dialysis are at high risk of infection including fungal infections. We examined the plasma β-glucan level and the titer of anti-β-glucan antibody in dialysis patients. We measured plasma β-1,3-glucan concentrations with the limulus G test and anti-β-glucan antibody titers by ELISA with Candida β-glucan-coated plates. We also examined the influence of the period of dialysis and the kind of dialysis membrane. The patients were positive for β-1,3-glucan in their plasma. The anti-β-glucan antibody titer was lower in the dialysis patients than in healthy volunteers. Long-term dialysis patients showed lower anti-β-glucan antibody titers than short-term dialysis patients. No significant difference was found between the kinds of dialysis membrane. The titer of anti-β-glucan antibody as recognition molecule of β-glucan was low in dialysis patients compared with healthy volunteers. This is likely to be one factor explaining the sensitivity to infection of the dialysis patients. An appropriate application of culinary-medicinal mushroom such as Agaricus brasiliensis has potential for the prevention of fungal infection in dialysis patients.