Detection of Dermatophytes Using PCR followed by Array Technology; a Validation Study

Infections of the skin, hair, and nails are frequently caused by dermatophytes, fungi that metabolize keratin, and present as tinea corporis, tinea capitis, tinea pedis, tinea ungui-um, and related conditions. In immunocompetent patients these infections are typically superficial, limited to the epidermis, but may still trigger immune reactions of variable severity. Diagnosis currently relies on culture, which is time-consuming, requiring up to four weeks and skilled microscopy. The Euroarray Dermatomycosis, a PCR-based biochip assay targeting 56 fungal species, offers a markedly shorter turnaround time of 48 hours. We conducted an analytical validation study assessing sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, reproducibility, limit of detection, and linearity. Hair, nail, and skin specimens from healthy donors were spiked with genomic DNA from dermatophytes and yeasts includ-ing Trichophyton, Microsporum, Epidermophyton, Fusarium, Candida, Scopulariopsis, and Nannizzia; plasmids were used for linearity and detection limit testing. The assay demonstrated high sensitivity (91.7–100%) and specificity (100%) across species, repro-ducibility ranging from 88.9–100%, and limits of detection as low as 10–100 copies/ml depending on specimen type and organism, with excellent linearity (R² 0.9677–0.9987). In conclusion, Euroarray Dermatomycosis shows strong analytical performance and has the potential to significantly improve accuracy, reliability, and speed of fungal diagnosis. Furthermore, adopting molecular techniques for dermatophyte detection may facilitate future exploration of resistance mechanisms in fungi, providing earlier insights into emerging antifungal resistance patterns and supporting the development of targeted therapies.