Development of molecular assays in the diagnosis of Candida albicans infections

Abstract

The incidence of invasive fungal infections has increased in immunocompromised patients, with Candida albicans being the most common pathogen. Since the diagnosis of candidemia is important for the initiation of appropriate antifungal therapy, so far many diagnostic techniques, such as culture, phenotypic tests, serological tests and so on, have been developed. However, all of these methods have significant flaws that limit their usefulness in clinical practice. In this paper, we review several newly developed and modified molecular assays that have shown promise in the clinical diagnosis of Candida albicans. © Springer-Verlag and the University of Milan 2010.