Abstract
Objective: Keratinolytic activities of dermatophytes have been a subject of interest to understand the pathogenicity of infection. In this study, we intend to elucidate the keratinase activity profile among the Trichophyton (T), Microsporum (M) and Epidermophyton (E). Methods: 343 clinical isolates of dermatophytesviz; T. mentagrophytes (228), T. rubrum (58), T. shoeleinni (36) M. audouinii (14) and E. floccosum (7) grown on Sabouraud Dextrose broth were inoculated on mineral medium consist of human hair, horse hair, cow hair, chicken feather and fowl scales individually. The keratinolytic activity was measured spectrophotometrically at 660 nm following Folin-Ciocalteu method. Results: The keratinolytic activities of T. mentagrophytes, T. rubrum, T. schoeleinii and M. audouinni of Mean ± SEM viz; 4.89 ± 5.77, 4.51 ± 2.51, 4.57 ± 8.81 and 4.67 + 8.81, respectively were significantly increased in feather except, E. floccosum with an expression of 1.50 ± 2.08 which was significantly low when compared with other keratin P<0.05. There was a significant decrease in keratinolytic activities of all the dermatophytes in fowl scales P<0.05. Conclusion: We concluded that the pathogenicity potential of dermatophytes depends on its keratinolytic activities and the structure of the keratin material.
Highlights
Dermatophytes are a group of closely related fungi that have the capacity of invading the keratinized tissue of human and other animals to produce infections known as dermatophytoses, which are commonly referred to as ringworm [1].Dermatophytes can digest keratin and other proteinaceous substrates present in Skin and its appendages, such as nail, hair, and feather, and use it as its sole source of carbon and nitrogen
Comparison of keratinolytic activities of dermatophytesin various keratin substrates showed that the keratinolytic activities of Tricophyton mentagrophytes, Tricophyton rubrum, Tricophyton schoeleinii, Microsporum audouinni and Epidermophyton floccosum were significantly higher in feather when compared with other keratin P
Comparison of keratinolytic activities of dermatophytes in human hair showed that there was a significant increase in the keratinolytic activities of the Trichophyton mentagrophytes in human hair than other dermatophytes
Summary
Dermatophytes are a group of closely related fungi that have the capacity of invading the keratinized tissue (skin, hair and nails) of human and other animals to produce infections known as dermatophytoses, which are commonly referred to as ringworm [1].Dermatophytes can digest keratin and other proteinaceous substrates present in Skin and its appendages, such as nail, hair, and feather, and use it as its sole source of carbon and nitrogen. Proteolytic and keratinolytic activities of dermatophytes have been a subject of interest for several years to understand the pathogenicity of infection [2] These dermatophytes are called keretinophilic fungi because of their high affinity for keratin. Keratin is a refactory protein polymer only produced by man and animal, it is the main constituent of epidermal skin, hair, feather, reptilian scales, quils, horns, hooves and nails. When these materials are shed into the soil and other potentially moist substrata such as disused nest, they are principally degraded by keratinophilic fungi [3]
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