European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Introduction: Superficial mycoses are common skin diseases affecting millions of people worldwide.
Objectives: This study aimed at examining the drug-resistant dermatophytes from clinical samples and the efficacy of herbal extracts on them.
Materials and methods: 150 clinical samples (skin, hair, and nail) were collected from suspected cases in Government Hospital, Erode, Tamil Nadu, India for a period of one year. Overall 112 (74.67%) positive cultures were identified. The dermatophytes isolates include Trichophyton species (34.82%), Epidermophyton species (13.39%), Microsporum species (37.5%) and Aspergillus species(14.28%).Age and sex-wise perspectives of dermatophytes infections indicated that females (64%) and adults between 15-30 years were highly infected by superficial mycoses.
Results: The overall percentage of multidrug resistance was higher than 98%. The efficiency of herbal extracts revealed that Aloevera gel, leaf extracts of Annona reticulata and Acalyphaindica were found to be an effective while, Achyranthusaspera, Azadiractaindica and pine were ineffective.
Conclusion: Medicinal plants are good sources of new pharmaceuticals. From these findings, the use of herbal medicines will reduce the side effects of synthetic antifungal drugs and the development of drug resistance.