Abstract
Invasive fungal infections are the cause of serious morbidity and high mortality in immunocompromised patients. Early laboratory diagnostic options remain limited; however, rapid detection and accurate identification may improve outcome. Herein, multiplexed PCR followed by liquid-phase array was evaluated for detection and identification of common respiratory fungal pathogens, including Aspergillus fumigatus, Rhizopus microsporus, Scedosporium apiospermum and Fusarium solani. The limit of detection ranged 0.1–1 ng of DNA, depending on the fungus being tested. Primer cross-reactivity was seen for some fungi: Aspergillus flavus primers detected Aspergillus oryzae; Scedosporium apiospermum primers detected Paecilomyces lilacinus, and Aspergillus terreus primers detected S. apiospermum. PCR followed by liquid-phase array is potentially useful for the identification of clinically relevant fungal pathogens.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Luminex Corporation for providing reagents and instrumentation for this evaluation. This work was supported in part by American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities (ALSAC) of St Jude Children's Research Hospital, by the Anderson Charitable Foundation, by the Anderson Charitable Foundation, and by the Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University.
Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and the writing of the paper.
This paper was first published online on Early Online on 23 March 2012.
