Abstrakt
A rapid and accurate identification of the Candida is crucial for clinical treatment
of local and systemic candidiasis. Premature diagnosis of invasive fungal
infections is problematic because most clinical signs are non-specific and
cultures are often negative or become positive too late for the initiation of effective
antifungal therapy. Therefore, studies have been performed to improve molecular
techniques for the diagnosis of candidiasis. Today, molecular strategies, such
as PCR and non-PCR based methods are used to complement conventional
laboratory approach. They provide accurate results in much short time of 1.5–3 h.
Given the high accuracy and time saving with molecular typing techniques it
is likely that most of these methods could improve routine clinical laboratory
identification of Candida yeast species. However, further studies are needed
for standardization of such procedures. This article presents an overview and
discussion on molecular identification methods in the context of their application
for the diagnosis of Candida fungi. Particular attention has been focused on the
advantages and limitations of the indicated methods and the possibilities of
their implementation for routine use in clinical laboratories.