ABSTRACT

High prevalence of the disease onychomycosis i.e., non-dermatophytic fungal nail infection, has recently been lodged as an underdiagnosed public health issue in India. The causal agent, keratinophilic fungi causes the nails to become thick, brittle and ragged with changes in appearance, slight pain and foul odor. The treatment commonly consists of topical drug employment. However, delivery of these drugs to the site of infection can pose as an obstacle due to poor permeability of antifungal creams across the nail plate. Penetration of such drugs by altering the nail plate barrier via physical and chemical means and usage of penetration enhancers have proven to be minimally invasive. However, this issue can be addressed by the use of keratinases. Keratinases can act as molecular scissors cleaving the firm layers of keratin protein constituting the major part of the nail plate, thereby loosening the plate and effectively enhancing transungual drug permeability. Thus, the present study aimed to isolate an alpha-keratinase producing bacterium. A total of 100 bacterial strains isolated from the soil of a poultry feather dumping site were screened for protease and keratinase production, Of all the shortlisted isolates, isolate N-49 was finally selected as it could completely degrade goat hair in 18h. Further, it was identified as Bacillus subtilis based on 16S rRNA sequence homologies. This is the first report of indigenous bacterium Bacillus subtilis N-49 possessing alpha-keratinase activity. It has immense potential for enhancing trans-ungual drug delivery. Keywords: Onychomycosis, Drug permeability, Trans-ungual drug delivery, Keratin, Keratinases
Publication date: 01/11/2023

https://ijbpas.com/pdf/2023/November/MS_IJBPAS_2023_7525.pdf

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https://doi.org/10.31032/IJBPAS/2023/12.11.7525