Molecular diagnosis of Fusarium solani in corneal samples from suspected herpetic keratitis cases

Aim and Fusarium solani, may occur as a mixed infection with HSV and due to similarities in their clinical features, sometimes it leads to misdiagnosis. The aim of this research was the designation and optimization of PCR technique for the diagnosis of F. solani as the main etiological agent or as a mixed infection in corneal samples suspected of having HSV 100 samples of DNA from clinical cases (Include 65 negative and 35 positive samples for HSV), suspected to herpetic keratitis were collected. The PCR test for detecting F.solani in these samples, with specific primers ffuso1 and rfuso2 and mt cytb as the target gene with 330 bp product was optimized. The specificity and sensitivity of the test were then evaluated. Among 65 negative samples for HSV, two samples were positive for Fusarium solani and the PCR 330 bp product were amplified in these two cases. The sensitivity of the test was one copy of Fusarium solani genome and specificity was 100%. The results of PCR test show that, the cases suspected to herpetic keratitis are caused by Fusarium solani., Accurate diagnosis of ethological agent in the cases of clinical features similarity or mix infection, is possible by molecular diagnosis.