Research on the damage caused by nail fungus

On 1 June at 9:00, in a public session of the Doctoral Committee of Medicine, Rīga Stradiņš University, which will take place in the Hippocrates Lecture Theatre (16 Dzirciema Street), Olga Zaikovska will defend her doctoral thesis “Changes of Functional Unit of the Nail for Patients of Onychomycosis”

Onychomycosis or nail fungus is a topical problem in dermatology. The treatment outcome is individual, recurrence of the disease is often observed, therefore, in-depth knowledge about the processes that occur in nails is essential. A nail is an interesting, though complex, material for research, therefore, the topic of morphological changes in nails in the case of fungal infection has not been widely studied.

The aim of the study was to examine the functional unit of the nail (nail plate, bed and connective tissues) in the case of onychomycosis, assessing the material from various aspects of cell morphology.

To achieve the aim of the study, the author took biopsy material (5 mm) from nails affected by onychomycosis from 30 patients. The obtained material was processed, applying immunohistochemical methods. Nail material from 5 cadavers was used for control purposes.

It was concluded that nails affected by fungus have explicit keratinisation disorders and elements of fungi were detected therein. By applying an immunohistochemical staining method the researcher obtained innovative information about the unchanged intervention level and hyperplasia of blood-vessels, intensive inflammation and antimicrobial factors, as well as the death of significant cells and tissue restructuration in the case of this infection.