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Susceptibility of dermatophyte isolates obtained from a large worldwide terbinafine tinea capitis clinical trial.

Ghannoum MA, Wraith LA, Cai B, Nyirady J, Isham N

Center for Medical Mycology, University Hospitals of Cleveland/Case Western Reserve University, 11100 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106, U.S.A.

Background Our group, in collaboration with seven other laboratories, has recently developed a method to determine the susceptibility of dermatophytes. Objectives The objective of this study was to determine the terbinafine susceptibility profile of dermatophyte isolates obtained from patients with tinea capitis enrolled in two large worldwide clinical trials and to investigate whether these susceptibilities differ by geographical location. Methods Susceptibilities were determined according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute M38-A2 standard. Results From a total of 978 baseline dermatophyte isolates, we selected 301 isolates at random. These included: Trichophyton tonsurans (n = 125), Microsporum canis (n = 94), T. violaceum (n = 63) and M. audouinii (n = 19). The terbinafine minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) range was 0.001-0.25 mug mL(-1), while MIC(50) and MIC(90) ranged between 0.002 and 0.125 mug mL(-1) and 0.03 and 0.25 mug mL(-1), respectively, for all species tested. MIC(50) and MIC(90) varied by individual species; however, there was no difference in terbinafine MIC among the different species isolated from U.S. and non-U.S. sites. Conclusion Terbinafine demonstrates potent antifungal activity against dermatophyte isolates obtained from patients with tinea capitis worldwide.

Published 30 May 2008 in Br J Dermatol.
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