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Current Status of Diagnosis of Mucormycosis: Update on Molecular Methods

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Abstract

The diagnosis of mucormycosis remains difficult. Clinical and radiological signs are not specific and therefore biological markers are of prime importance. The conventional diagnosis relies on the direct examination and culture of clinical samples followed by morphological identification of the causative agent. Nevertheless, direct examination may be difficult to interpret, cultures may be negative, and most of the Mucorales share common morphological characteristics rendering identification problematic. In recent years, several alternative approaches, mainly based on molecular methods, have been developed to overcome these difficulties. Major advances have been made in the molecular identification of isolates in culture and a consensus has been reached as to the best technique to use. Very interesting results have also been obtained in molecular diagnosis using clinical samples, with a variety of methodological approaches, but none of these techniques is completely standardized yet. Recent results show that detection of DNA in serum may also be feasible.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr. U. Binder of the Medical University Innsbruck (Innsbruck, Austria) for her review of the manuscript.

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Conflict of Interest

E. Dannaoui has received research grants from Gilead.

L. Millon has received travel accommodation for participation in a congress from Pfizer and Gilead.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

All studies by the authors involving animal and/or human subjects were performed after approval by the appropriate institutional review boards. When required, written informed consent was obtained from all participants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unité de Parasitologie-Mycologie, Service de Microbiologie, APHP, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, Faculté de Médecine, Université Paris-Descartes, Paris, France

    Eric Dannaoui

  2. Equipe Dynamyc, Faculté de Médecine, Université Paris-Est Créteil, Créteil, France

    Eric Dannaoui

  3. CNRS-Univ Franche-Comte, UMR 6249 Chrono-Environnement, 25030, Besançon, France

    Laurence Millon

  4. Departments of Parasitology-Mycology, University Hospital, 25030, Besançon, France

    Laurence Millon

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  1. Eric Dannaoui
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Correspondence to Eric Dannaoui.

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Dannaoui, E., Millon, L. Current Status of Diagnosis of Mucormycosis: Update on Molecular Methods. Curr Fungal Infect Rep 8, 353–359 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12281-014-0196-8

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