Reagents, methods and kits for classification of fungi and direction of anti-fungal therapy

Abstract

Provided herein are methods, kits and compositions to classify fungi. Methods are provided for classification of fungi according to established phenotypes, for example, antimicrobial susceptibility profiles. More specifically, the invention provides methods for the use of PNA probes in diagnostic applications, which will aid in the direction of appropriate therapy against fungi.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60 / 719,153, filed Sep. 20, 2005 and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60 / 789,656, filed Apr. 5, 2006, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.BACKGROUND [0002] Fungal infections, particularly those caused by yeasts, are associated with high morbidity and mortality. An increase in the prevalence of nosocomial fungal infections, especially bloodstream infections (BSI) attributed to Candida species, has contributed to an overall increase in the proportion of BSI caused by yeast (Wisplinghoff CID 2004). [0003] The susceptibility of the various Candida species to available antifungal compounds is constantly being reexamined and results are widely published. The susceptibility of an isolate to a drug is often described in minimum inhibitory concentration units (MIC) which are often defined in terms of the species as a whole, though susceptibilities can vary widely...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008] Described herein are reagents, methods and kits to identify and categorize fungi according to their established susceptibilities to antifungal agents. Embodiments of the invention utilize probes targeted toward fungal species in such a way that optimal therapy can be selected without necessitating identification of the organisms at the species level. By short-cutting the traditional approach where optimal selection of therapy is awaiting species identification, information for selection of therapy is available faster without compromising the quality of the information. In addition, the invention circumvents the need for separating fungi which require the same treatment hereby simplifying both the analysis and the result interpretation.

Problems solved by technology

Fungal infections, particularly those caused by yeasts, are associated with high morbidity and mortality.

Antifungal drugs are approved for, and directed towards the treatment of particular Candida species, however; identification to a species level is not commonly performed rapidly enough to inform initial therapeutic decisions.

The development of antifungal therapy is focused on broad spectrum drugs to reduce the dependence on laboratory identification; however, broad spectrum antifungal drugs may be expensive or associated with adverse side effects.