Br J Ophthalmol 1998;82:306-311 ( March )
Diagnosis of Fusarium keratitis in an animal model
using the polymerase chain reaction
George Alexandrakis,*
Shahram Jalali,
Peter Gloor
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Yale
University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Correspondence to: Peter Gloor, MD, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual
Science, Yale University School of Medicine, PO Box 208061, New
Haven, CT 06520-8061, USA.
Accepted for publication 29 September 1997
AIMS/BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was
apply the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to develop a sensitive,
specific, and rapid test to diagnose Fusarium keratitis.
Fusarium is the most common cause of fungal corneal
infection in some parts of the world. It is often difficult to
establish that a keratitis is due to fungal infection.
METHODSFusarium solani
keratitis was induced in three eyes of three rabbits by injection of a
suspension of the fungus into the anterior corneal stroma. In one
rabbit the contralateral eye served as a control. From four to 28 days
after inoculation, the corneas were scraped for culture, then scraped
and swabbed for PCR analysis. The PCR was performed with primers
directed against a portion of the Fusarium cutinase gene,
and the presence or absence of this amplified target sequence was
determined by agarose gel.
RESULTSThe amplified DNA sequence was detected in
25 of 28 samples from the corneas infected with Fusarium,
for a sensitivity of 89%. Only three of the 14 samples from these eyes
with Fusarium keratitis were positive by culture, for a
sensitivity of 21%. Seven of eight control samples were negative by
the PCR based test, for a specificity of 88%.
CONCLUSIONThis PCR based test holds promise of
being an effective method of diagnosing Fusarium keratitis
as well as Fusarium infections at other sites.
Keywords:
keratitis;
Fusarium;
ulcer;
cornea;
polymerase chain reaction
*
Current address: Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami
School of Medicine, Miami, FL 33101, USA.
© 1998 by British Journal of Ophthalmology
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