Investigation on the in vitro anti-Trichophyton activity of photosensitizers.

Onychomycosis is the most common disease caused by fungal nail infections, and often caused by dermatophytes. This infection is very resistant to antifungal treatments, and promising Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) mediated treatments has been presented as a multitarget tracking. Optimization of PDT guide for uptake time, concentration of photosensitizers (PS) and the light dose to inactivate Trichophyton mentagrophytes. Curcumin derivatives, porphyrin Chlorin e6 (CHL-E6) and Chlorin-P6-6-N-butylamide-7-methyl-ester (CHL-butyl) were evaluated. PS photobleaching was observed on the hyphae photosensitized over the time, correlating the PS concentration and light dose of antifungal PDT. Porphyrin, Curcumin, Chl-e6 and Chl-butyl concentrations of 2.5 µg/mL, 0.025 µg/mL, 10 µg/mL and 5 µg/mL respectively, under illumination of 10.5 J/cm2 were the best antifungal conditions found in the study. Curcumin, in low concentrations, and chlorin were the PSs with higher activity anti-T. mentagrophytes.