A Spanish study conducted at the Navarra University Hospital showed that the use of DermatoPlex qPCR for detecting dermatomycoses had sensitivities 2.3x and 1.7x greater than direct microscopic examination and culture, respectively.
The overall agreement for the molecular detection of dermatophyte fungi and Candida spp. in skin and nail material, compared with culture, was 75.4%. The positive rate of direct microscopic examination among qPCR-positive results was 38.6%.
Excluding Candida spp. target, discrepancies in 201 cases were further analysed using the Novaplex™ Dermatophyte assay: 152 cases (75.6%) were classified as true-positive, while 25 cases (12.4%) were classified as false-negative.
Overall, in addition to its higher sensitivity, the DermatoPlex qPCR offers superior performance over conventional methods, with a shorter turnaround time and reduced contamination. However, the very limited spectrum of fungal species detectable by current qPCR assays limits their ability to fully replace traditional diagnostic approaches. In addition, clinical validation of qPCR methods for diagnosing dermatomycoses remains scarce. All commercial methods available are listed here: https://en.fungaleducation.org/molecular-mycology/
