title: Use of restriction fragment length polymorphism to identify Candida species, related to onychomycosis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Onychomycosis is one of the most common clinical forms of fungal infections due to both filamentous fungi and yeasts. The genus of Candida is one of the most prominent causes of onychomycosis in all around the world. Although Candida albicans is still the most frequent cause of nail infections, use of broad-spectrum antifungal agents has led to a shift in the etiology of C. albicans to non-albicans species. The aim of the present study is rapid and precise identification of candida species isolated from nail infection by using of PCR-RFLP technique.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 360 clinical yeast strains were collected from nail infections in Iran. Genomic DNA was extracted using FTA(;) cards. ITS1-5.8SrDNA-ITS2 region was amplified using universal primers and subsequently products were digested with the restriction enzyme MspI. For identification of newly described species (C. parapsilosis complex), the SADH gene was amplified, followed by digestion with Nla III restriction enzyme.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Candida albicans was the most commonly isolated species (41.1%), followed by C. parapsilosis (21.4%), C. tropicalis (12.8%), C. kefyr (9.4%), C. krusei (5.5%), C. orthopsilosis (4.1%), C. glabrata (2.8%), C. guilliermondii (1.4%), C. rugosa (0.8%), and C. lusitaniae (0.5%). Patients in the age groups of 51-60 and 81-90 years had the highest and lowest distribution of positive specimens, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Rapid and precise identification of Candida species from clinical specimens lead to appropriate therapeutic plans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Rasoul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mohammadi
authors.affiliation: Prof. Alborzi Clinical Microbiology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Parisa
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Badiee
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Mycology and Parasitology, Invasive Fungi Research Center (IFRC), School of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Hamid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Badali
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Mycology and Parasitology, Invasive Fungi Research Center (IFRC), School of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abastabar
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Ahmad Hosseini
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Safa
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahboubeh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hadipour
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Hajar
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yazdani
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Farnaz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Heshmat
keywords: Candida species; PCR-RFLP; onychomycosis