| Author: | Ip, Pui-shan |
| Title: | In vitro antifungal activity of essential oils against the most common dermatophytes isolated from a group of patients with tinea pedis in Hong Kong |
| Degree: | M.Sc. |
| Year: | 2008 |
| Subject: | Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations. Athlete's foot -- Treatment Antifungal agents. Dermatophytes. Essences and essential oils. |
| Department: | Department of Health Technology and Informatics |
| Pages: | ix, 66 leaves : col. ill. ; 30 cm. |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | The aims of this study were to identify the distribution of dermatophyte species of tinea pedis in a group of patients in Hong Kong, and evaluate the antifungal activities of four essential oils namely Cymbopogon flexuosus (lemongrass) oil, Melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree) oil, Thymus vulgaris (thyme) oil and Commiphora myrrha (myrrh) oil against the two most common dermatophytes identified. Lastly, the correlation of these susceptibility tests results between the four essential oils and a traditional antifungal drug fluconazole were examined. In this study, the causative fungal agents of tinea pedis and the demographic characteristics were examined from 123 participants. The susceptibility of the randomly selected strains from the two most common dermatophyte species toward the essential oils and fluconazole were determined by evaluating the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values. A slightly modification of the CLSI M38-A guideline (NCCLS, 2002) was used in susceptibility testing. It was identified that Trichophyton rubrum (63.5%) and Trichophyton mentagrophytes (32.9%) were the two most common causative agents. In the positive cases (n=85), number of male subject was statistically significant higher than female (X2 = 11.78,p> = 0.001). All the four essential oils exhibited antifungal activities at very low concentration against both dermatophyte strains (ranged from 0.002% to 0.125%). Lemongrass oil demonstrated the greatest antifungal activity followed with myrrh oil, thyme oil and lastly the tea tree oil. However, the antifungal activities of the four essential oils were not significant different (p > 0.05). Only a weak association between the susceptibility of fluconazole and thyme oil was demonstrated in treating T. mentagrophytes (p < 0.05, r = 0.561), correlations were not significant for the rest combinations (p >0.05). Data in this study suggested that these essential oils are feasible in treating dermatophytoses. In addition to the lack of correlation between fluconazole and essential oil susceptibilities, essential oils may be alternative antimicrobial agents in treating fluconazole-resistant dermatophytes strains. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| b2305606x.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 3.85 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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