Occurrence of tinea infection with comparative study of commercial antifungal and traditional herbs in district Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Abstract

Abstract The current study was aimed to pinpoint the prevalence of tinea infection causing pathogens, comparative study of commercial antifungal drugs and traditional herbs against two fungal species Trichophyton rubrum and Aspergillus fumigatus isolated from dermatophytosis patients in Swat. A total of 190 samples were collected from skin, nails and hairs of infected peoples in different hospitals and private medical facilities. The samples were cultured on potato dextrose medium, labelled carefully and incubated. Moreover, the growths were observed under microscope and species were identified on the basis of morphological characteristics. A total of 12 different fungal species were isolated. Among all T. rubrum specie was recorded with high percentage 25%, followed by Candida (19.4%) and Penicillium spp (16.6%). The minimum rate was recorded for Aureobasidium pullans, Epidermphyton floccosum, Trichophyton basicola, T. verrucosum, T. tonsurans and T. tonsultans with 2.78% each. A total of six anti-fungal were examined in which fluconazloe and clotrimazole showed best results against T. rubrum and A. fumigatus. A total of eight traditional herbs were studied against T. rubrum and A. fumigatus. Ethyl acetate extract showed best results against both species followed by methanol extract. n Hexane extract was found less effective. The study concluded that fluconazole, clotrimazole and Ethyl acetate extract of medicinal plants were more effective against T. rubrum and A. fumigatus.