Background: Fungal infections are one of the common skin diseases with difficulty in their treatment approach. The present efficient drugs for fungal infection are limited.
Aim: To determine the therapeutic efficacy of plant extracts as alternative antifungal agents.
Materials and methods: 100 clinical samples [68 from female and 32 from male] were collected during the period from March to July 2017 from subjects attending Dermatology Clinic in Salah Uldean General Hospital. Fungal infection was diagnosed with using KOH wet preparation. Fungal species identified by using conventional approach. The active ingredients existing in the plant extracts were detected and analyzed through qualitative and quantitative detection technique of chemical compounds using a high performance liquid chromatographic device (HPLC). Agar diffusion method was used to determine antifungal activity of plant extracts.
Results: Direct microscopic examination showed that there were (75%) positive samples, while culture shows (67%) positive samples. The isolated dermatophytes belong to Epidermophyoton, Microsporum, and Trichophyton genus. The predominant dermatophytes were T. rubrum (25%) species. The highest frequency of infection was in the age group of 11-20 years. The sensitivity of the tested fungi to the aqueous and alcoholic plant extracts varies. Alcoholic extract of the hot pepper plant was more effective as antifungal than the aqueous extract of the same plant. However, aqueous hot pepper extracts was more effective against T. mentagrophyte than that of alcoholic extract. Additionally, alcoholic Sumac extract shows higher efficacy that aqueous extract.
Conclusion: Hot pepper and Sumac extracts show antifungal activity against Microsporum canis, Trichophyton rubrum and T. mentagrophyte.