African Journal of Microbiology Research Vol. 1 (1), 009-012, May 2007          
© 2007 Academic Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Trichophyton rubrum – the predominant etiological agent in human dermatophytoses in Chennai, India

G. Venkatesan¹*, A. J. A. Ranjit Singh¹, A. G. Murugesan², C. Janaki³ and S. Gokul Shankar⁴

¹Sri Paramakalyani College, Alwarkurichi, India

²Sri Paramakalyani Centre for Environmental Studies, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli, India

³Mycology Section, Department of Dermatology, Madras Medical College, Chennai, India.

⁴R and D Center, Cholayil Private Limited, Chennai, India.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: gvreach@yahoo.co.in  Tel.: +91 9840755079.

Accepted 07 May, 2007

The present study was undertaken to find the predominant etiological agent of dermatophytoses among the patients attending the out patient clinic of Mycology Section, Department of Dermatology, Madras Medical College and Hospital, Chennai. Specimens were collected from suspected patients with dermatophytoses and examined for the presence of fungal elements, cultured, isolated and identified. Among the 90 suspected patients with clinical symptoms of dermatophytoses, 71 (78.9%) were confirmed in culture. Trichophyton genus was accounted for 93% of dermatophytoses, which was shared by Trichophyton rubrum (73.3%) and Trichophyton mentagrophytes (19.7%), followed by Epidermophyton floccosum (4.2%) and Microsporum gypseum (2.8%). It was noted that tinea corporis (64.8%) is the most prevalent infection followed by tinea cruris (26.8%), tinea pedis (5.6%) and onychomycoses (2.8%). T. rubrum was the predominant species responsible for the dermatophytoses, especially tinea corporis in Chennai, Tamilnadu, India. In addition it was also observed that T. rubrum was most predominant species responsible for the chronic dermatophytoses (81.8%). Further work is in progress to understand the protease profile of the isolates with relation to the chronisity of the infection.

Key words:  Dermatophytoses, Dermatophytes, Tinea, Trichophyton and Skin infections.