Publication

Abstract : Dermatophytes are the causative agents of superficial skin infections, dermatophytoses, which are capable of invading and digesting keratin. The current usage of synthetic drugs leads to either side effects in human or resistant fungal varieties due to prolonged use. Hence the present study aims at finding leads from phytocompounds to target the enzymes involved in maintaining fungal cell wall integrity, namely, 1, 3 β-D glucan synthase and chitinase, important enzyme having a role in morphogenesis. Docking analysis was carried out for the above targets with already reported phytocompounds of Enicostemma axillare (syn. littorale) Blume and compared with the specific synthetic drugs to evaluate their efficacy as fungal inhibitors using Glide software. The in vitro study was carried out for E. littorale extract against Microsporum gypseum. The significant results were observed with the petroleum ether extract of the aerial parts of E. littorale at a concentration of 3000 µg/ml. Keywords: Enicostemma littorale, Microsporum gypseum, in silico analysis, antifungal and antidermatophytic assay. INTRODUCTION Dermatophytic infections (Tinea) are caused by the group of organisms which are categorized under three genera, namely, Trichophyton, Microsporum and Epidermophyton and the infection can also be chronic in case of immune compromised persons