Molecular Methods For Diagnostics Of Dermatomycoses – Review Of Available Techniques And Evaluation Of Their Advantages And Disadvantages In Implementation For In Routine Use

Abstract

Fungal infections of the skin, hairs, and nails undeniably dominate among all types of fungal infections. The etiological factors of the majority of superficial fungal infections are dermatophytes which, although they are the oldest microorganisms considered as pathogens, have long been unstable in the taxonomic position. From a diagnostic point of view, the species identification of dermatophytes is still a serious problem, often generating therapeutic errors. An increasing number of infections, including zoonoses, lack of taxonomic stability and ambiguous clinical picture of all cases of dermatomycosis induce to search for new, fast, repeatable and at the same time cheap methods of species identification of these fungi. In the last decade, revolutionary progress has been observed in the development of molecular methods for the diagnosis of fungal infections and the reliable identification of species of etiological factors that cause these dermatomycoses. The results of many studies indicate that the direct identification of fungi from dermatological samples based on molecular methods is much more reliable and much faster compared to that carried out by conventional methods. Often, the etiological factor of the observed changes was also identified, while the result of cultivation was negative. Particular molecular methods used in the species identification of fungi directly from the clinical material differ in the procedures of genomic DNA extraction, PCR techniques used, the molecular marker used and the results interpretation system. This paper reviews literature regarding different methods of diagnosing of superficial fungal infections based on molecular biology techniques, their advantages and limitations, as well as critical factors for their implementation for routine use. The position of microbiologists in this matter seems to be a foregone conclusion, the time when molecular diagnostics will replace the conventional techniques, based on the cultivation of dermatophytes and assessing their morphology, inexorably coming. Molecular methods of identifying aetiological factors of dermatomycoses directly from dermatological samples are much more attractive and have many advantages.

Keywords

• dermatophytes
• superficial mycoses
• species identification
• molecular methods
• dermatofity
• grzybice powierzchniowe
• identyfikacja
• metody molekularne