WORLD JOURNAL OF ADVANCE
HEALTHCARE RESEARCH

*Dr. Ahmed Shfaa Aldeen Alqazzaz

ABSTRACT

Background: Recalcitrant dermatophytosis is a significant health problem. It is a worldwide growing health issue. The problem is either resistant to antifungals or relapses quickly after drug discontinuation. Probiotics are living microorganisms that can treat different body infection including skin dermatophytosis. Objectives: Is to investigate the clinical role of probiotic as adjuvant therapy for recalcitrant dermatophytosis. Methods: The study is a case control prospective study conducted at Mosul General Hospital in Mosul, Iraq from the 1st of November 2024 to the end of October 2025. The study included 150 patients with recalcitrant dermatophytosis, divided into two groups. Cases group include 50 patients who treated with Itraconazole 100 mg once daily, Probiotic cap once daily and Luliconazole topical cream twice daily, while control group include 50 patients treated only with Itraconazole 100 mg once daily and Luliconazole topical cream twice daily only. These groups were followed for 6 months. Clinical and photographic assessment was done at each of day 0, day 30, day 60 and day180. The questionnaire includes four parts. Part one for demographic information of the study patients. The second part for the patients’ body mass index. Part three for patients’ clinical profile. Part four for symptom severity score at starting point and at follow up results (1st, 2nd, and 6th months) after starting of treatment. Results: The mean age ± standard deviation of the study patients was 39.42 ± 11.61 years. Males represent 76 (50.67%) of the study patients and females represent 74 (49.33%) of the study patients, with male to female ratio equal to 1.02:1. Statistically significant difference between cases and controls started after the second month of treatment initiation (P value <0.001) then subsequently the difference decrease (P value = 0.003). Conclusion: In conclusion, this study revealed that Adding probiotic to antifungal treatment can decrease MMP and disrupt biofilm formation thus effectively treat recalcitrant dermatophytosis.