Investigating Trichophyton violaceum Metabolites and their Effects In Vivo

The common dermatophyte Trichophyton violaceum invades hair of the endothrix type by penetrating the cortex right above the hair bulb and surrounding the shaft below the undamaged cuticle. The current investigation aims to isolate and characterize secondary metabolites of T. violaceum and detect their effects In vivo. In this study, 52 (65%) out of 80 clinical specimens were positive for Trichophyton violaceum by both KOH 10% wet mount and culture. It has appeared that T. violaceum isolates can create a variety of secondary metabolites. Of these, one compound appeared in yellow with Rf. with a value of 14.2 cm in TLC plates compared to standard AFB1, named T. violaceum A (TVA) complex. The FTIR and GC-MS chromatography showed several possibilities for analyzing such secondary metabolites, but the most acceptable possibility is that the compound (TVA) may be acidic. The macroscopic and microscopic examination of rat skin sections showed pathological changes after three weeks of subcutaneous injection with this compound. This study represents the first study about the production of mycotoxins from T. violaceum.