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Transcriptional profiles of the response to griseofulvin, itraconazole and terbinafine in Trichophyton tonsurans.

Charles W. Lynde, MD, Toronto Western Research Institute, Toronto, ON

Tinea capitis is the most common fungal infection seen in children. The infection is predominantly caused by Trichophyton tonsurans, Microsporum canis, and T. violaceum. In North America and Europe Trichophyton tonsurans is responsible for more than 90% of cases. Systemic antifungal drugs griseofulvin, itraconazole, and terbinafine, which are very active in vitro against T. tonsurans isolates are the treatment of choice for tinea capitis. Despite their high in vitro activity, several cases of therapeutic failure have been reported resulting in a need to study the causes of therapy failure at molecular level. Recently, microarray studies have been used to study the fungal genetic expression profile at various developmental stages. The transcriptional expression profile using microarray studies with and without drug exposure to the isolates collected from patients with tinea capitis receiving oral antifungal therapy pre- and post-therapy would help elucidate the mechanism of drug resistance, as well as identifying potentially new candidate genes for drug targets necessary for the development of effective antifungal drug.

©2007