proteolytic activity and cooperative hemolytic effect of dermatophytes with different species of bacteria

Background and purpose: globally, dermatophytes are the most common filamentous group of fungi causing cutaneous mycoses. dermatophytes were shown to secrete a multitude of enzymes that play a role in their pathogenesis. there is limited data on co-hemolytic (camp-like) effect of different bacterial species on dermatophyte species. in this study, we sought to the evaluate exoenzyme activity and co-hemolytic effect of four bacteria on clinical dermatophytes isolated from patients in shiraz, iran. materials and methods: a total of 84 clinical dermatophyte species were isolated from patients suffering dermatophytosis and identified by conventional methods. hemolytic activity was evaluated with columbia 5% sheep blood agar. proteolytic activity was determined by plate clearance assay method, using gelatin 8% agar. camp-like factor was evaluated with four bacteria, namely, s. areus, s. saprophyticus, s. pyogenes, and s. agalactiae. fisher's exact test was run for statistical analysis. results: t. mentagrophytes was the most predominant agent (27 [32.1%]) followed by t. verrucosum (20 [23.8%]), t. tonsurans (10 [11.9%]), microsporum canis (7 [8.3%]), t. rubrum (6 [7.1%]), e. floccosum (6 [7.1%]), m. gypseum (5 [6%]), and t. violaceum (3[3.6%]). the most common clinical area of dermatophytosis was the skin. all the isolates expressed the zone of incomplete alpha hemolysis. all the isolates had camp- positive reaction with s. aureus and the other bacteria were camp-negative. all the isolates expressed proteolytic activity and no significant differences were noted among diverse genera of dermatophytes and severities of proteolytic activity. conclusion: this study indicated that hemolysin and proteolytic enzymes potentially play a role in dermatophyte pathogenesis and s. aureus could be considered as a main bacterium for creation of co-hemolytic effect in association with dermatophyte species.