Athlete's Foot Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Athlete's Foot, including details on tinea, causes, treatment, prevention.

Emerging therapeutic agents for onychomycosis.

Piérard GE, Arrese JE, Quatresooz P, Piérard-Franchimont C

CHU Sart Tilman, Department of Dermatopathology, B-4000 Liège, Belgium. Gerald.pierard@ulg.ac.be

Onychomycosis is a frequent disorder that represents the most prevalent fungal infection, particularly among older individuals. Diverse fungi of the dermatophyte, non-dermatophyte mold and yeast families have been reported to be responsible for onychomycosis. The output from the pharmaceutical industry of new antifungals to treat onychomycosis has been limited over the last decade. Present treatment options include both oral and topical drugs, with oral therapies giving better outcomes. However, neither of these treatment options provides high cure rates that are durable. At present, azoles and allylamines are keeping the pivotal roles. New derivatives with a favorable risk-benefit ratio and new formulations of older azoles seem to be promising. Thus, ongoing drug development activities have focused on novel delivery technologies to facilitate incorporation of existing antifungal drugs inside the nail plate and the discovery of new active antifungals.

Published 18 September 2007 in Expert Opin Emerg Drugs, 12(3): 345-53.
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