Abstract:
The potential of using an electronic nose (E-nose) as a rapid technique for
screening the responses of dermatophytes to antifungal agents was studied. In
vitro, the 50% and 90% effective concentration (EC) values of five antifungal
agents including fungicides and antioxidant mixtures against Trichophyton rubrum
and Trichophyton mentagrophytes were obtained by mycelial growth assays. The
qualitative volatile production patterns of the growth responses of these fungi
to the EC values incorporated into solid media were analysed after 96-120h
incubation at 25°C using headspace analyses using five replicates per treatment.
Overall, results, using principal components analysis and cluster analysis,
demonstrated that it was possible to differentiate between various treatments
within 96-120h of growth. The EC50 values were discriminated from the controls
while the EC90 concentration treatments were often grouped with the agar blanks
because of very slow growth. This study showed that potential exists for using
qualitative volatile patterns as a rapid screening method for antifungal agents
against micro-organisms. This approach could significantly improve and
facilitate the monitoring of antimicrobial drug activities and infection control
programmes and perhaps also for monitoring of drug resistance buildup in
microbial populations
