MOLECULAR IDENTIFICATION OF CLINICAL ISOLATES OF FUNGI CAUSING MUCORMYCOSIS IN DIABETIC PATIENTS

Objective: The objectives of this study were to evaluate molecular and traditional diagnostic methods in the diagnosis of mucormycosis in the diabetic population, as well as characterization of demographic and clinical profile. Method: The study was performed on 100 diabetics with clinical suspicion of mucormycosis. Patient demographic, clinical features and fungal identification outcome based data were explored. Molecular approaches were carried out at this level to identify species in addition to traditional culture techniques including PCR amplification of ITS and 18S rRNA gene sections. Results: The mean age of cohort patients was 58.3 ± 12.7 years and 62% were male. The rhino-orbital-cerebral region was responsible for 78% of the infections with 15% involvement in the lungs, 5% in the cutaneous area, and 2% into the gastrointestinal tract. While traditional culture tests revealed Mucorales in 88 (88%) of cases, molecular identification through PCR assays detected DNA in 95 (95%) of clinical specimens. Based on sequence analysis, Rhizopus oryzae (54.7%), Rhizopus microsporus (18.9%), as well as Mucor circinelloides (12.6%) were the most frequent species of Mucorales. Compared to conventional culture approaches, molecular techniques helped identify the species closer to the origin and were faster and accurate. Novelty: The identification of the appropriate Mucorales species in patients with a history of diabetes with mucormycosis needs a sensitive and accurate molecular diagnostics method to determine it, indicated in this work. Relevance for patient management and the treatment of targeted antifungals are indicated from the results.