Pathophysiology of Dermatophytes and Potent Phytochemical Sources as Possible Applications against Trichophyton Spp.

Abstract

Trichophyton infections are typically restricted within the epithelial keratinized layer of the skin and therefore grouped among the dermatophytoses. Different species of Trichophyton viz., T. mentagrophytes, T. rubrum and T. violaceum are the important causal agents for the dermatophytic disorders. Azole drugs are extensively employed in the therapeutic practice to treat dermatomycosis. Use of synthetic drugs can cause a number of side effects and may induce drug resistance to the patients. Therefore, plant extracts have been widely investigated as alternative for chemical drugs to solve this problem. Literature data revealed that specific plants showed inhibiting effect against particular species of Trichophyton because of their different phytochemical contents. This study is carried out to document different plant species for their antifungal activity against various species of Trichophyton. Total of 107 plant species belonging to 50 families have been gathered for their antifungal activity against nine species of Trichophyton species viz., T. asahii, T. erinacei, T. inkin, T. ovoides, T. schoenleinii, T. longifusus, T. soudanense, T. tonsurans and T. verrucosum.