Fungi related to allergies are commonly found in dwelling environments. The predominant fungi Cladosporium, Penicillium, Aspergillus, Alternaria, Wallemia and Rhodotorula live mainly in indoor air, house dust (HD), futons, clothes and contaminated building materials. See Penicillium mould.

Penicillium notatum is very widely distributed in soils, occurring in the temperate zones in forests, grasslands and arable soils with comparable frequencies. It can be isolated from decaying vegetable and leaf litter. It is also found on stored cereals, and hay. The conidia are easily discharged into the air and are counted with high frequency in all aeromycological studies. It is also considered an important in-house mould. Indoors, Penicillium is the blue-green mould found on stale bread, fruits and nuts, and is used for production of green and blue mould cheese. Penicillium has no great seasonal variation but reaches peak concentrations in the winter and spring.

Allergens/Function:

Mould.
Allergens:
P. notatum is a potent antigenic mold both in animals and in humans (Alonso 1990 ref.5756 7)

This study's results suggest that the 34 and 32 kDa major allergens of P. notatum may be the alkaline and the vacuolar serine proteinase respectively. (Shen 1996 ref.83 543)

Adverse Reactions:

IGE AND IMMUNE:
Perennial rhinitis and asthma. (Alonso 1990 ref.5756 6)

Penicillium has long been recognised as one of the moulds most often producing positive skin test reactions in allergic individuals, but it has not been characterised and little is known about the allergen composition. In a study of allergy to Basidiomycetes and Fungi imperfecti, Penicillium scored very high (Lopez 1976 ref.1218 7)

Liquorice et al. found Penicillium and Alternaria spores in relatively natural states and numbers to be potent immune pathogens for asthma. Specific IgE anti bodies were found in 90% of patients with atopic hypersensitivity to P. notatum (Virchow). Evidently no cross-reactivity between some major species of Penicillium (Nemergut); however, a study suggested common antigenic determinants between P. solani and P. notatum. (Hughes)

NON IMMUNE:
Unknown or Nil