Vol. 11, Special Issue 1 (2022)

Author(s):
Akhil GC, Usha N Pillai and Madhavan Unny N

Abstract:
Dermatophytes are a group of filamentous fungi that can cause superficial mycoses in humans and other mammals. This is due to the ability of these dermatophytes to invade keratinized tissues including skin, hair, and nails. Riseofulvin (Grifulvin V, Gris-PEG), Terbinafine, Itraconazole (Onmel, Sporanox) and Fluconazole (Diflucan) are the major antifungal drugs which has been used for the treatment of dermatophytosis. To reduce the side effects and cost, natural compounds are mostly preferred. Many medicinal plants have been known for their occurrence anti-dermatophytic activity. However, the compositions of natural compounds are high in oils extracted from leaves. Artemisia japonica Thunb of Asteraceae family is widely distributed in India and the plant has been used as traditional medicine to treat various diseases. The present study aims to evaluate the in-vitro anti-dermatophytic activity of essential oil extracted from Artemisia japonica leaves. The essential oil (100 µL) has showed great potential to act against selected dermatophytes, Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Microsporum canis. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was found to be 1.534±0.201 mg/mL and 0.578±0.0311 mg/mL for T. mentagrophytes and M. canis respectively. The results of the present study revealed that the essential oil extracted from Artemisia japonica leaves may have potential use in the treatment of dermatophytosis.