Activity Against Fungi Causing Subcutaneous Mycoses (Sporothrix Schenckii and Fonsecaea Pedrosoi) Of 12 Plant Species For Medicinal Use In Guatemala

Abstract

Subcutaneous mycoses are conditions that are acquired by trauma to the skin with infected material, producing a lesion at the site of inoculation, as in the case of chromoblastomycosis caused by Fonsecaea pedrosoi, or spread through the lymphatics as sporotrichosis produced by Sporothrix schenckü. Diagnosis is made by fresh examination of the lesion material and confirmed by culture. The treatments differ enormously, for the first, it consists of invasive surgical procedures and non-selective and toxic drugs; for the second, potassium iodide and amphotericin B are used.
despite their effectiveness, they produce severe side effects that are sometimes irreversible. Therefore, the search for antifungal activity in natural products is an alternative for the development of new treatments against these mycoses.

The antifungal activity of 17 extracts from 12 plants used medicinally in Guatemala, mainly for the treatment of skin conditions, was investigated. Strains of both bongos were cultivated and then an in vitro bioassay was established, adapting the method for filamentous fungi described by Brancato & Golding modified by MacRae et al., standardized for a screening test (1 mg/mL) and to determine the inhibitory concentration. minimal.

Activity was demonstrated at concentrations <1 mg/mL in 12 species, with Lippia graveolens standing out, who demonstrated activity against both bongo mushrooms and Valeriana prionophylla with an activity of 0.025 mg/mL. By means of biodirected fractionation procedures, it is now necessary to isolate and characterize the molecules responsible for the activity, in order to initiate pharmacodynamic and mechanistic studies that will allow us to propose a useful treatment against these little-studied pathologies.