Feasibility of mitochondrial single nucleotide polymorphisms to detect and identify Aspergillus fumigatus in clinical samples

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2014

Authors

Manuela Oliveira (Author) Other; Michaela Lackner (Author) Other; Antonio Amorim (Author) FCUP; Ricardo Araujo (Author) Other

Journal

Title: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease

Vol. 80

Pages: 53-58

ISSN: 0732-8893

Publisher: Elsevier

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 8 Citations

Scopus - 7 Citations

Scientific classification

FOS: Medical and Health sciences > Health sciences

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-009-V3W

DOI: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2014.05.007

Abstract (EN): Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is a concerning fungal infection among immunocompromised patients due to the poor outcomes in its treatment related with the delay in an accurate diagnosis. Therefore, this study aimed to select informative mitochondrial single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers suitable for detection and identification of Aspergillus fumigatus in clinical specimens. Four mitochondria( SNP markers were selected (Cox_488, CytB_246, Nad1_802, and NC_171) and tested on clinical and environmental strains of Fumigati and non-Fumigati Aspergillus species (n = 105). These markers were tested on clinical samples (n = 37) obtained from patients with aspergillosis. The Cox_488 SNP was detected in all clinical samples, whereas complete profiles detecting all 4 SNPs were only obtained from 6 samples (1 lung biopsy, 2 abscesses, and 3 bronchoalveolar lavages) from patients with a probable or proven Aspergillus infection. The mitSNApfu approach based on mitochondrial markers constitutes a new and promising diagnostic approach that was applied successfully on clinical specimens from patients with proven or probable IA. Nevertheless, the assay requires further optimization (in respect to extraction procedures) and clinical validation to allow its application in routine diagnostics.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 6