Authors: F C Flores J A de Lima R F Ribeiro S H Alves C M B Rolim R C R Beck Cristiane Bona da Silva
Publish Date: 2013/02/08
Volume: 175, Issue: 3-4, Pages: 281-286
Abstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate for the first time the antifungal efficacy of nanocapsules and nanoemulsions containing Melaleuca alternifolia essential oil tea tree oil in an onychomycosis model The antifungal activity of nanostructured formulations was evaluated against Trichophyton rubrum in two different in vitro models of dermatophyte nail infection First nail powder was infected with T rubrum in a 96well plate and then treated with the formulations After 7 and 14 days cell viability was verified The plate counts for the samples were 237 145 and 10 log CFU mL−1 emulsion nanoemulsion containing tea tree oil and nanocapsules containing tea tree oil respectively A second model employed nails fragments which were infected with the microorganism and treated with the formulations The diameter of fungal colony was measured The areas obtained were 288 ± 208 mm2 1459 ± 201 mm2 4098 ± 276 mm2 and 3872 ± 122 mm2 for the nanocapsules containing tea tree oil nanoemulsion containing tea tree oil emulsion and untreated nail respectively Nail infection models demonstrated the ability of the formulations to reduce T rubrum growth with the inclusion of oil in nanocapsules being most efficient
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