Abstract
Three hundred and nine strains belonging to 11 species of dermatophyte moulds were tested against sertaconazole following mainly the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (M38-P) for filamentous fungi. However, several important factors such as the temperature (28°C vs 35°C) and time of incubation (4-10 d vs 21-74 h), have been modified. Sertaconazole was active against all the clinically important dermatophyte moulds involved in human infections tested. Overall geometric mean MIC of sertaconazole was 0.21 μg/ml with a MIC range of 0.01-8 μg/ml. MIC50 and MIC90 were respectively of 0.25 and 1 μg/ml. Sertaconazole was very active against Epidermophyton floccosum, Trichophyton rubrum, Trichophyton tonsurans and Microsporum canis (geometric means 0.08, 0.13, 0.13 and 0.19 μg/ml respectively). Microsporum audouinii had the lowest susceptibility in the study (geometric mean 0.59 μg/ml). Considering MIC50 and MIC90 these differences were significantly in favor of the activity of sertaconazole against E. floccosum (0.06 and 0.5 μg/ml respectively).