The role of oxidative stress in onychomycosis: Thiol/disulphide homeostasis

Abstract

Superficial dermatophyte infections are skin diseases that are often encountered. Onychomycosis is the most frequent infectious condition of the nail unit. Dermatophytes, particularly Trichophyton rubrum, and Trichophyton mentagrophytes are the most common causes but non-dermatophyte moulds, such as Scopulariopsis brevicaulis, may also cause onychomycosis. 1 The dermatophytes are mycelial organisms generating long chains of cells and hyphae, to penetrate the stratum corneum, which is achieved by the production of proteases that can destroy keratin. 2 Dynamic thiol-disulphide homeostasis plays a crucial role in various biological activities including antioxidant protection, detoxification, apoptosis, control of enzymatic activity and cellular signal transduction. 3 The oxidant/antioxidant homeostasis may have a particular role in the increased activity of proteases and keratin degradation observed in onychomycosis.This study aimed to investigate thiol-disulphide homeostasis in onychomycosis patients.

Appraisal of selected ethnomedicinal plants as alternative therapies against onychomycosis: Evaluation of synergy and time-kill kinetics

“…In previously reported studies, a positive correlation has been observed between TPC and the DPPH assay, indicating the possible role of quantified polyphenols as free radical scavengers in the DPPH assay ( Fernandes de Oliveira et al, 2012 ). Amplified amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS) are a major cause of oxidative stress, which is an important factor in onychomycosis pathogenesis and may cause permanent tissue and organ injury ( Zhang et al, 2021 ; Metin et al, 2021 ). Therefore, quenching of these ROS would be an important milestone to combat onychomycosis.…”

“…Onychomycosis patients revealed a thiol/disulfide homeostasis shift to oxidative stress with thiol reduction and a rise in the disulfide/native thiol, and disulfide/total thiol ratios. These outcomes may suggest the role of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of onychomycosis ( Metin et al, 2021 ). Several types of onychomycosis entail total dystrophic onychomycosis, white superficial onychomycosis, distal and subungual onychomycosis, endonyx onychomycosis, and proximal onychomycosis ( Aggarwal et al, 2020 ).…”