Lipolytic activity of some dermatophytes.

TLDR: Thelipolytic activities of four common dermatophytes, Epidermophyton floccosum, Microsporum canis, Trichophyton mentagrophytes and T. rubrum, were tested on agar medium supplemented with one or other of several lipids and the highest lipolytic activity was demonstrated by M. canis.

Abstract: THE HORNY layer of epidermis, which can be colonised by dermatophytes, is covered by surface lipids. The lipolytic activity of dermatophytes may therefore be of particular importance in the early stages of infection, before the fungus has established permanent contact with keratin; but little is known about the possible presence of lipases in these pathogenic fungi. The early observations of Mallinckrodt-Haupt (1927), Tate (1929), Nekam (1935) and, more recently, Pinetti and Lostia (1961) and Bohme (1969) have demonstrated that dermatophytes can hydrolyse lipids of animal and of vegetable origin. The occurrence of lipase has been demonstrated histochemically (Knight, 1957) and in dermatophyte mycelial filtrates (Bohme, 1969). This paper describes the screening of the more common dermatophytes to test for the presence of lipases.