Polymerase Chain Reaction-Based Assays for the Diagnosis of Invasive Fungal Infections

Kourkoumpetis, Themistoklis; Fuchs, Beth Burgwyn; Coleman, Jeffrey J.; Desalermos, Athanasios; Mylonakis, Eleftherios

doi:10.1093/cid/cis132

Cited by 62 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 83 publications

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“…Due to the aforementioned issues, no single test has yet provided enough evidence of its accuracy to be incorporated into guidelines, and thus PCR is not yet widely used in the diagnosis of IFIs (95,125). In order to understand the details behind this fact, and given the wide variety of fungal infections, with different characteristics and problems associated with each, it is best to study every disease separately.…”

Section: Pcrmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular and Nonmolecular Diagnostic Methods for Invasive Fungal Infections

et al. 2014

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SUMMARY Invasive fungal infections constitute a serious threat to an ever-growing population of immunocompromised individuals and other individuals at risk. Traditional diagnostic methods, such as histopathology and culture, which are still considered the gold standards, have low sensitivity, which underscores the need for the development of new means of detecting fungal infectious agents. Indeed, novel serologic and molecular techniques have been developed and are currently under clinical evaluation. Tests like the galactomannan antigen test for aspergillosis and the β-glucan test for invasive Candida spp. and molds, as well as other antigen and antibody tests, for Cryptococcus spp., Pneumocystis spp., and dimorphic fungi, have already been established as important diagnostic approaches and are implemented in routine clinical practice. On the other hand, PCR and other molecular approaches, such as matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), have proved promising in clinical trials but still need to undergo standardization before their clinical use can become widespread. The purpose of this review is to highlight the different diagnostic approaches that are currently utilized or under development for invasive fungal infections and to identify their performance characteristics and the challenges associated with their use.

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Section: Pcrmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular and Nonmolecular Diagnostic Methods for Invasive Fungal Infections

et al. 2014

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“…Current diagnostic methods such as culture, biopsy and serology lack rapidity and efficiency. PCR has potential to improve fungal diagnosis as it is faster, more sensitive and specific [14]. Guizhen Luo et al, [15] did a multiplex PCR evaluation of fungal colonies and it provided 100% sensitivity.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence of Invasive Aspergillosis Among (PTB) Patients in Kanchipuram, India

Sivasankari

Senthamarai

Anitha

et al. 2014

JCDR

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“…This remains an area of intense research focus, as early and rapid diagnosis is crucial for improved patient survival (16). Recently, PCR-based assays have been shown to have promising sensitivity for Aspergillus infections relative to other biochemical diagnostic methods such as galactomannan (GM) and (1, 3)-␤-D-glucan assays (17,18). The lack of specificity of serologically based assays detecting common fungal cell wall components has additionally remained a significant limitation for the diagnosis of opportunistic Aspergillus infections (19).…”

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confidence: 99%

Aspergillus Collagen-Like Genes ( acl ): Identification, Sequence Polymorphism, and Assessment for PCR-Based Pathogen Detection

Tuntevski

Durney

Snyder

et al. 2013

Appl Environ Microbiol

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fThe genus Aspergillus is a burden to public health due to its ubiquitous presence in the environment, its production of allergens, and wide demographic susceptibility among cystic fibrosis, asthmatic, and immunosuppressed patients. Current methods of detection of Aspergillus colonization and infection rely on lengthy morphological characterization or nonstandardized serological assays that are restricted to identifying a fungal etiology. Collagen-like genes have been shown to exhibit species-specific conservation across the noncollagenous regions as well as strain-specific polymorphism in the collagen-like regions. Here we assess the conserved region of the Aspergillus collagen-like (acl) genes and explore the application of PCR amplicon size-based discrimination among the five most common etiologic species of the Aspergillus genus, including Aspergillus fumigatus, A. flavus, A. nidulans, A. niger, and A. terreus. Genetic polymorphism and phylogenetic analysis of the aclF1 gene were additionally examined among the available strains. Furthermore, the applicability of the PCR-based assay to identification of these five species in cultures derived from sputum and bronchoalveolar fluid from 19 clinical samples was explored. Application of capillary electrophoresis on nanogels was additionally demonstrated to improve the discrimination between Aspergillus species. Overall, this study demonstrated that Aspergillus acl genes could be used as PCR targets to discriminate between clinically relevant Aspergillus species. Future studies aim to utilize the detection of Aspergillus acl genes in PCR and microfluidic applications to determine the sensitivity and specificity for the identification of Aspergillus colonization and invasive aspergillosis in immunocompromised subjects.

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Polymerase Chain Reaction-Based Assays for the Diagnosis of Invasive Fungal Infections

Cited by 62 publications

References 83 publications

Molecular and Nonmolecular Diagnostic Methods for Invasive Fungal Infections

Molecular and Nonmolecular Diagnostic Methods for Invasive Fungal Infections

Prevalence of Invasive Aspergillosis Among (PTB) Patients in Kanchipuram, India

Aspergillus Collagen-Like Genes ( acl ): Identification, Sequence Polymorphism, and Assessment for PCR-Based Pathogen Detection

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