A number of epidemiological studies find an association between indoor air dampness and respiratory health effects. This is often suggested to be linked to enhanced mold growth. However, the role of mold is obviously difficult to disentangle from other dampness‐related exposure including microbes as well as non‐biological particles and chemical pollutants. The association may partly be due to visible mycelial growth and a characteristic musty smell of mold. Thus, the potential role of mold exposure should be further explored by evaluating information from experimental studies elucidating possible mechanistic links. Such studies show that exposure to spores and hyphal fragments may act as allergens and pro‐inflammatory mediators and that they may damage airways by the production of toxins, enzymes, and volatile organic compounds. In the present review, we hypothesize that continuous exposure to mold particles may result in chronic low‐grade pro‐inflammatory responses contributing to respiratory diseases. We summarize some of the main methods for detection and characterization of fungal aerosols and highlight in vitro research elucidating how molds may induce toxicity and pro‐inflammatory reactions in human cell models relevant for airway exposure. Data suggest that the fraction of fungal hyphal fragments in indoor air is much higher than that of airborne spores, and the hyphal fragments often have a higher pro‐inflammatory potential. Thus, hyphal fragments of prevalent mold species with strong pro‐inflammatory potential may be particularly relevant candidates for respiratory diseases associated with damp/mold‐contaminated indoor air. Future studies linking of indoor air dampness with health effects should assess the toxicity and pro‐inflammatory potential of indoor air particulate matter and combined this information with a better characterization of biological components including hyphal fragments from both pathogenic and non‐pathogenic mold species. Such studies may increase our understanding of the potential role of mold exposure.

中文翻译：

---

室内霉菌颗粒的表征和促炎潜力。

许多流行病学研究发现室内空气潮湿与呼吸健康影响之间存在关联。通常认为这与霉菌生长加快有关。但是，霉菌的作用显然很难与其他与潮湿相关的暴露（包括微生物以及非生物颗粒和化学污染物）相分离。这种联系可能部分是由于可见的菌丝生长和霉菌的特征性霉味。因此，应通过评估来自实验研究的信息阐明可能的机械联系，进一步探索霉菌暴露的潜在作用。此类研究表明，暴露于孢子和菌丝片段可能充当过敏原和促炎介质，并且它们可能通过产生毒素，酶和挥发性有机化合物来破坏气道。在本综述中，我们假设持续暴露于霉菌颗粒可能会导致慢性低度促炎反应，从而导致呼吸系统疾病。我们总结了一些检测和表征真菌气溶胶的主要方法，并重点介绍了体外研究，阐明了霉菌如何在与气道暴露有关的人类细胞模型中诱导毒性和促炎反应。数据表明，室内空气中的真菌菌丝碎片比例远高于空气传播的孢子，且菌丝碎片通常具有更高的促炎潜力。因此，具有强烈促炎潜能的流行霉菌菌丝片段可能是与潮湿/霉菌污染的室内空气相关的呼吸系统疾病的特别相关候选物。将室内空气湿度与健康影响联系起来的未来研究应评估室内空气颗粒物的毒性和促炎潜力，并将此信息与包括病原性和非致病性霉菌菌丝碎片的生物成分更好地结合起来。这些研究可能会加深我们对霉菌暴露的潜在作用的了解。