Optimizing diagnostics for galactofuranose containing antigens

A method for diagnosing a microbial infection in a biological sample from a mammalian subject suspected of having, having, or susceptible to having a microbial infection by detecting the presence of at least one polysaccharide comprising a galactofuranose residue in a biological sample of the mammalian subject, the method comprising:

• (a) treating the biological sample to inhibit human intelectin (hIntL) binding of galactofuranose residues present in the sample, wherein the treatment of the biological sample comprises contacting the biological sample with at least one ligand which binds directly to intelectin, or substrates which bind divalent cations with high affinity;
• (b) contacting the treated sample of (a) with at least one antibody specific for at least one polysaccharide comprising a galactofuranose residue in an effective amount to produce a detectable amount of antibody-polysaccharide complex, wherein the at least one antibody specific for at least polysaccharide comprising a galactofuranose residue is selected from the group consisting of monoclonal antibody 205 (MAb 205) comprising a variable heavy (VH) domain of SEQ ID NO:1 and a variable light (VL) domain of SEQ ID NO:2;
• monoclonal antibody 24 (MAb 24) comprising a VH domain of SEQ ID NO:3 and a VL domain of SEQ ID NO:4;
• monoclonal antibody 686 (MAb 686) comprising a VH domain of SEQ ID NO:5 and a VL domain of SEQ ID NO:6;
• monoclonal antibody 838 (MAb 838) comprising a VH domain of SEQ ID NO:7 and a VL domain of SEQ ID NO:8;
• and monoclonal antibody 476 (MAb 476) comprising a VH domain of SEQ ID NO:9 and a VL domain of SEQ ID NO:10;
• and
• (c) detecting the presence of at least one antibody-polysaccharide complex, wherein the detection of the presence of at least one antibody-polysaccharide complex is diagnostic of a microbial infection in a mammalian subject.