Development of a fungicidal varnish for the onychomycosis treatment in men

Vollständiger Abstract

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The object of research is the production of a polymer cosmetic product with fungicidal and cosmetic-masking effects for the onychomycosis treatment in men. This work addresses the problem of the lack of products for men to treat onychomycosis and simultaneously mask the negative aesthetic changes of the nail caused by it. Onychomycosis is a common nail infection, which is an acute problem for military personnel due to moisture in shoes, lack of hygiene and stress. The existing therapy has disadvantages: low permeability of local agents, hepatotoxicity of systemic drugs and aesthetic defect, which reduces the motivation of patients to treatment. Zinc pyrithione (0.25%) and urea (7.0%) were used as active ingredients, which acts as a keratolytic and plasticizer of the polymer matrix. The fungicidal activity of the developed varnish was evaluated by the agar diffusion method against reference strains, the physicomechanical properties of the films were investigated according to the DSTU ISO 1519:2015 standard, and the optical masking properties were determined by the turbidimetric method according to the McFarland scale. It was established that the concentration of zinc pyrithione 0.25% provides pronounced zones of pathogen growth inhibition: 1.9 ± 0.1 cm for T. mentagrophytes, 2.2 ± 0.2 cm for C. albicans and 1.7 ± 0.1 cm for A. niger. The incorporation of insoluble zinc pyrithione microparticles increases the optical turbidity of the system by 24 times, providing a matte opalescent effect. The synergistic effect of urea and zinc pyrithione on the mechanical properties of the coating was revealed: the relative elongation of the film increases from 11% to 29%, and the tensile strength increases more than 4 times when applying fungicidal varnish in 2–3 layers. The developed product eliminates the need for additional cosmetics, which increases patient compliance and makes it promising for use among military personnel.