A Comparative Study of Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism and Fungal Culture for the Evaluation of Fungal Species in Patients with Tinea Cruris

BACKGROUND: Tinea cruris is the second most common dermatophytosis in the world and the most common in Indonesia. The conventional laboratory tests for dermatophyte infection are slow and less specific. Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) is a PCR method with the addition of enzyme after amplification, therefore enabling for more specific results. AIM: This study aimed to find whether the PCR-RFLP test could yield the same fungal species result as a fungal culture. METHODS: The specimens were skin scrapings from thirty-one patients suspected tinea cruris. The tools and materials that were used were Sabaroud’s dextrose agar media, primer ITS 1 and ITS 4 and MvaI. RESULTS: The equation percentage of the test result species between PCR-RFLP and fungal culture was 50% of 12 subjects whose the test results were both positive from the fungal culture and PCR-RFLP. The percentage of the test result with fungal culture the fungal species were found, but in the PCR-RFLP test which the fungal species was not found, the percentage was 50% of 12 subjects which the test results were both positive as fungi from the culture and PCR-RFLP test. CONCLUSIONS: The species from PCR-RFLP examination was the same with the fungal culture.