Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Lufenuron does not stop skin fungus growth in dogs and cats
By Zur, Gila & Elad, Daniel·Published in Journal of veterinary medicine. B, Infectious diseases and veterinary public health·2006·Koret School of Veterinary Medicine and Teaching Hospital·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: In vitro and in vivo effects of lufenuron on dermatophytes isolated from cases of canine and feline dermatophytoses.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of eight dogs and six cats with skin lesions was treated with lufenuron, a medication typically used for insect control, to see if it could help with fungal skin infections caused by dermatophytes. Unfortunately, the treatment did not show any effectiveness against the fungal infections, as most lesions did not improve. Interestingly, some lesions that were not caused by dermatophytes did get better, suggesting that lufenuron might have some other effects on the immune system. Overall, lufenuron does not seem to be a reliable treatment for fungal skin infections in pets.
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Abstract
Lufenuron is a benzyl-urea phenol compound that inhibits chitin synthesis and is used as an insecticide. Its efficacy in the therapy of dermatophytosis in dogs and cats was evaluated in several clinical studies, with contradictory results. We assessed the in vitro susceptibility of dermatophytes isolated from dogs and cats to lufenuron, and the clinical response of skin lesions to the drug. Dermatophyte cultures isolated from clinical cases were exposed to lufenuron by three different methods: direct application and application of whole blood or subcutaneous tissue samples obtained from a lufenuron-treated healthy dog. No inhibition of dermatophyte growth was observed in any of the samples after 1 week of incubation. Eight dogs and six cats with skin lesions were included in the in vivo survey. Results indicated that six of seven skin lesions that were diagnosed as being caused by dermatophytes did not respond to lufenuron whereas six of seven skin lesions that were not caused by dermatophytes improved. We concluded that lufenuron, in the way it was administered in this study, had no inhibitory activity on dermatophytes in vitro or in vivo and its clinical use as an anti-fungal agent is questionable. An immunomodulatory effect of the drug is, however, possible.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16629723/