Photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy is an effective option for treatment of in vitro onychomycosis, according to Dr. Tarun Mehra of Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen, Germany, and his associates.
In both a microdilution assay and a onychomycosis model, photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT) was effective in suppressing Trichophyton rubrum in conjunction with toluidine blue O (TBO) and LED irradiation. In another test, a patient diagnosed with distolateral onychomycosis was treated with TBO and PACT and experienced a significant improvement in nail health over the next 6 months while receiving no other treatments.
The long-term normalization of the patients’ nails suggests that PACT is a persistent cure, but patients with more than 50% of the nail affected may be more difficult to treat with PACT, the researchers said.
Read the full article online in the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (doi:10:1111/jdv.12467).