Background: Onychomycosis, a fungal nail infection, has become one of the most important dermatophytoses. Unfortunately, a predictably successful diagnostic approach to onychomycosis does not yet exist.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to develop a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-based diagnostic method to improve the sensitivity and specificity of the detection and differentiation of the pathogenic fungi of onychomycosis.
Methods: We attempted to detect fungi in the nail using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primer systems that were designed in conserved sequences of the small ribosomal subunit 18S-rRNA genes shared by most fungi, and differentiated between species by restriction enzyme analysis of the amplified product.
Results: Fragments of the gene coding for 18S-rRNA were amplified successfully from medically important fungi species, but not from normal nails. Restriction fragment length polymorphism patterns using HaeIII endonuclease were sufficiently different to allow the recognition of individual species.
Conclusions: The PCR-restriction enzyme analysis method appears to be a more sensitive detection and identification technique for onychomycosis than conventional methods, and has considerable diagnostic value.