Establishment of an animal model of dermatophytosis and evaluation of the antifungal efficacy on dermatophytosis with this model.

Objective To establish an animal model of dermatophytosis and to evaluate antifungal efficacy on dermatophytosis with this model. Methods Animal models of dermatophytosis were established by inoculating dermatophyte suspension onto abraded skin on the back of guinea pigs. Thirty- eight healthy guinea pigs were randomly and equally divided into 2 groups, namely, Trichophyton mentagrophytes group (infected with T. mentagrophytes), and Microsporum canis group (infected with M. canis), and each group was classified into three subgroups, i.e., itraconazole group treated with oral itraconazole of 4 mg per kilogram body weight per day from day 0 to day 14 after infection, terbinafine group treated with oral terbinafine of 5 mg per kilogram body weight per day from day 0 to day 14 after infection, and untreated group receiving no therapy. The therapeutic effect was evaluated according to skin lesion score and fungal examination results on day 8, 11 and 14 after infection. Results Obvious lesions were observed and fungal examination was positive in untreated, infected pigs on day 8 after infection. In T. mentagrophytes-infecyted pigs, the skin lesion score on day 8, 11, 14 was 9, 1 and 0 in itraconazole group, 8, 5, and 1 in terbinafine group, 48, 52, 40 in untreated group, respectively, and there was significant difference between treated and untreated groups on the three time points (all P 0.05) but statistical difference between untreated and treated groups (all P 0.05). Conclusion Itraconazol and terbinafine exhibit similar excellent antifungal activity in routine model of T. mentagrophytes-and M. canis-dermatophytosis. Key words: Epidermophyton; Models,animal; Itraconazol; Terbiafine