Comparison of in vitro activity of five antifungal agents against dermatophytes, using the agar dilution and broth microdilution methods.

The purpose of this study was to compare the agar dilution and broth microdilution methods for determining the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of fluconazole, itraconazole, ketoconazole, griseofulvin and terbinafine for 60 dermatophyte samples belonging to the species Trichophyton rubrum, Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Microsporum canis. The percentage agreement between the two methods, for all the isolates with < 2 dilutions that were tested was 91.6% for ketoconazole and griseofulvin, 88.3% for itraconazole, 81.6% for terbinafine and 73.3% for fluconazole. One hundred percent agreement was obtained for Trichophyton mentagrophytes isolates evaluated with ketoconazole and griseofulvin. Thus, until a reference method for testing the in vitro susceptibility of dermatophytes is standardized, the similarity of the results between the two methods means that the agar dilution method may be useful for susceptibility testing on these filamentous fungi.

Comparison of in vitro activity of five antifungal agents against dermatophytes, using the agar dilution and broth microdilution methods / Comparação da atividade in vitro de cinco agentes antifúngicos para dermatófitos, usando os métodos de diluição em ágar e microdiluição em caldo

The purpose of this study was to compare the agar dilution and broth microdilution methods for determining the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of fluconazole, itraconazole, ketoconazole, griseofulvin and terbinafine for 60 dermatophyte samples belonging to the species Trichophyton rubrum, Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Microsporum canis. The percentage agreement between the two methods, for all the isolates with < 2 dilutions that were tested was 91.6 percent for ketoconazole and griseofulvin, 88.3 percent for itraconazole, 81.6 percent for terbinafine and 73.3 percent for fluconazole. One hundred percent agreement was obtained for Trichophyton mentagrophytes isolates evaluated with ketoconazole and griseofulvin. Thus, until a reference method for testing the in vitro susceptibility of dermatophytes is standardized, the similarity of the results between the two methods means that the agar dilution method may be useful for susceptibility testing on these filamentous fungi.

O propósito do presente trabalho foi comparar os métodos de diluição em ágar e diluição em caldo para a determinação de concentração inibitória mínima de fluconazol, itraconazol, cetoconazol, griseofulvina e terbinafina para 60 amostras de dermatófitos pertencentes às espécies, Trichophyton rubrum, Trichophyton. mentagrophytes e Microsporum canis. A porcentagem de acordo entre os dois métodos para todos os isolados testados considerando-se valores < 2 diluições, foram de 91,6 por cento para cetoconazol e para griseofulvina, de 88,3 por cento para itraconazol, de 81,6 por cento para terbinafina e de 73,3 por cento para fluconazol. Uma concordância de 100 por cento foi obtido para isolados de Trichophyton mentagrophytes avaliados com cetoconazol e griseofulvina. Desta forma, até que um método de referência seja padronizado para testar a suscetibilidade in vitro para os dermatófitos, os resultados semelhantes encontrados para os dois métodos fazem com que o método de diluição em ágar possa ser útil no teste de suscetibilidade para estes fungos filamentosos.