Objective. To evaluate the in vitro antiproliferative effect of ajoene on t
hree clinical isolates of Microsporum canis. Materials and methods. Three i
solates of M. canis, obtained from male patients with tinea corporis, tinea
capitis and tinea pedis were used. Growth curves were performed in Saboura
ud liquid medium by dry-weight determinations in order to obtain the Genera
tion Time (GT). The effect of ajoene (at concentrations of 0.1 to 50 CIM) w
as studied by turbidimetric readings of growths vs. time, in the presence o
r absence of the drug. Graphs (O.D. vs. [ajoene]) and (O.D. vs, log [ajoene
]) were constructed to calculate Minimal Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and
Inhibitory Concentration 50 % (IC50). The inhibitory effect of ajocne was
compared with that of griseofulvin and ketoconazole (1 CIM) Results and con
clusions. Typical growth curves were obtained with the three isolates studi
ed. The exponential phase lasted 48 hours and the stationary phase was reac
hed at day eight for isolates I and II and at day 12 for isolate III. GT va
lues were ten, 11 and 24 hours for isolates I, II and III, respectively. MI
C values were seven, eight and three muM, and IC50 values were 0.47, 0.56 a
nd 0.36 muM for the three isolates, respectively. Commercial drugs caused 9
0-99 % inhibition of growth at 1 CIM, whereas ajoene caused a similar effec
t at 3 to 10 muM. This study, taken together with previous work supports th
e efficacy of ajocne as a safe and inexpensive antifungal drug.