Yonsei Med J.  2011 May;52(3):535-538. 10.3349/ymj.2011.52.3.535.

In Vitro Antifungal Activity of Epigallocatechin 3-O-Gallate against Clinical Isolates of Dermatophytes

• Park BJ
• Taguchi H
• Kamei K
• Matsuzawa
• Hyon SH
• Park JC

• KMID: 1777029
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3349/ymj.2011.52.3.535

Abstract

Previously, we reported that epigallocatechin 3-O-gallate (EGCg) has growth-inhibitory effect on clinical isolates of Candida species. In this study, we investigated the antifungal activity of EGCg and antifungal agents against thirty-five of dermatophytes clinically isolated by the international guidelines (M38-A2). All isolates exhibited good susceptibility to EGCg (MIC50, 2-4 microg/mL, MIC90, 4-8 microg/mL, and geometric mean (GM) MICs, 3.36-4 microg/mL) than those of fluconazole (MIC50, 2-16 microg/mL, MIC90, 4-32 microg/mL, and GM MICs, 3.45-25.8 microg/mL) and flucytosin (MIC50, MIC90, and GM MICs, >64 microg/mL), although they were less susceptible to other antifungal agents, such as amphotericin B, itraconazole, and miconazole. These activities of EGCg were approximately 4-fold higher than those of fluconazole, and were 4 to 16-fold higher than flucytosin. This result indicates that EGCg can inhibit pathogenic dermatophyte species. Therefore, we suggest that EGCg may be effectively used solely as a possible agent or combined with other antifungal agents for antifungal therapy in dermatophytosis.

Keyword

Epigallocatechin 3-O-gallate; Dermatophytes; Microsporum canis; Trichophyton mentagrophytes; Trichophyton rubrum; Susceptibility

MeSH Terms

Antifungal Agents/*pharmacology
Arthrodermataceae/*drug effects/isolation & purification
Catechin/*analogs & derivatives/pharmacology
Microbial Sensitivity Tests