An Initial in Vitro Investigation into the Potential Therapeutic Use of Lucilia Sericata Maggot to Control Superficial Fungal Infections

Abstract

In this work an attempt was performed to investigate the in vitro ability of Lucilia sericata maggots to control fungi involved in superficial fungal infections. A novel GFP-modified yeast culture to enable direct visualization of the ingestion of yeast cells by maggot larvae as a method of control was used. The obtained results showed that the GFP-modified yeasts were successfully ingested by Lucilia sericata maggots and 1mg/ml of Lucilia sericata maggots excretions/ secretions (ES) showed a considerable anti-fungal activity against the growth of Trichophyton terrestre mycelium, the radial growth inhibition after 10 days of incubation reached 41.2 ±1.8 % in relation to the control, these results could lead to the possible application of maggot therapy in the treatment of wounds undergoing fungal infection.