SOLANUM-CHRYSOTRICHUM (SCHLDL) A PLANT USED IN MEXICO FOR THE TREATMENT OF SKIN MYCOSIS

An ethnobotanical field study carried out in 200 rural communities determined that the leaves of Solanum chrysotrichum Schldl. are used in Mexican traditional medicine for the treatment of skin mycosis, being particularly recommended to cure Tinae pedis. Clinical trials were performed using a cream containing 5% of a methanolic leaf extract of this plant. Results showed that 45% of the patients were completely cured after 4 weeks of topical treatment. The rest of the cases improved notably in comparison with the control group of patients using the habitual miconazole treatment. The same plant extract inhibited the growth in vitro of the dermatophytes Trychophyton mentagrophytes, T. rubrum and Microsporum gypseum at MICs under 15 mg/ml.