Human Nails Permeation of an Antifungal Candidate Hydroalcoholic Extract from the Plant Sapindus saponaria L. Rich in Saponins

Abstract

We evaluated a hydroalcoholic extract of Sapindus saponaria L. pericarps (ETHOSS), as a candidate to a topical antifungal medicine for onychomycosis. ETHOSS was produced by extracting the crushed fruits in ethanol. The saponin contents were identified and characterized by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. We measured the in vitro antifungal activity against three dermatophyte fungi, isolated from onychomycosis: Trichophyton rubrum, T. mentagrophytes, and T. interdigitale, using broth microdilution tests. The minimum fungicide concentration of ETHOSS ranged from 195.31 to 781.25 μg/mL. The cytotoxicity of the crude extract was tested on the HeLa cell line, and its ability to permeate into healthy human nails by photoacoustic spectroscopy and Fourier transformation infrared spectrometer (FTIR) spectroscopy by attenuated total reflection. Besides its strong antifungal activity, ETHOSS showed low cytotoxicity in human cells. It was able to permeate and reach the full thickness of the nail in one hour, without the aid of facilitating vehicles, and remained there for at least 24 h. These results suggest that ETHOSS has great potential for treating onychomycosis.

Development status of novel spectral imaging techniques and application to traditional Chinese medicine

“…Mendes et al. [ 38 ] used the technology to evaluate the antifungal and nail penetration effects of the hydroalcoholic extract of Sapindus saponaria L. pericarps. They also utilized photoacoustic imaging to measure skin permeability with regard to emulsions and evaluated the antioxidant capacity Melochia arenosa extract [ 39 ].…”

Screening and Evaluation of Potential Antifungal Plant Extracts against Skin Infecting Fungus Trichophyton rubrum

“…When compared to oral treatment, tropical treatment could be advantageous because it could be applied directly on the infected sites and reduced toxicity due to elimination of hepatic metabolism. [6] The fungal infections require long-term therapy, which involves several weeks of treatment however; the patients tend to discontinue the treatment due to cost factor, which results in reoccurrence of the infections. [3] Hence, all these facts point the need to search for alternative or complementary agent against dermatophytes.…”