Evaluation of drug susceptibility test for Efinaconazole compared with conventional antifungal agents

BACKGROUND: Superficial fungal infections are one of the most common and burdensome skin problems affecting quality of life in patients. Various conventional antifungal agents have been used to treat fungal infections; however, various problems have been reported including drug interaction, drug resistance and low effectiveness. Efinaconazole is a novel antifungal agent, which has proven to be particularly effective against onychomycosis compared with conventional antifungal agents. However, the antifungal efficacy of Efinaconazole for specific strains has not been analysed. OBJECTIVE: We conducted an in-vitro study to measure the antifungal activity of Efinaconazole against strains of Trichophyton rubrum, Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Candida albicans compared with widely-used antifungal drugs. METHODS: We obtained strains of T. rubrum, T. mentagrophytes and C. albicans isolated from patients with onychomycosis and tinea pedis. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) for various strains of fungal species was evaluated for the antifungal susceptibility test. RESULTS: Efinaconazole showed a low MIC against almost strains of dermatophytes and C albicans and also presented low resistance, indicating high potency of efinaconazole for treatment of superficial fungal infections. CONCLUSION: Efinaconazole could be a comparable alternative to replace existing conventional agents.