Detection of xanthomegnin by high performance liquid chromatography for rapid ıdentification of trichophyton rubrum complex

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is a reliable and robust methodology in medical diagnostics, including the detection of hemoglobin variants, vitamin D levels, and Trichophyton rubrum in skin and nail materials. Previous information reported that the latter was reliably identified using xanthomegnin activitiy via HPLC. In the present study, we aimed to discriminate the two most common human pathogenic dermatophytic fungi, T. rubrum and T. mentagrophytes complexes, via the detection of xanthomegnin using HPLC methodology. Hence, we investigated 32 reference dermatophyte strains: Arthroderma spp. (n=7), T. rubrum (n=18) and the T. mentagrophytes complex (n=7) strains. In addition, we analyzed both clinical samples and isolates of 13 samples identified as T. rubrum (n=9) and T. interdigitale (n=4) using ITS-sequencing. Twelve of 18 reference T. rubrum complex strains produced detectable amounts of xanthomegnin. Moreover, and more importantly, 2 A. vanbreuseghemii and 1 T. interdigitale strains also demonstrated xanthomegnin activity. Furthermore, from a total of 13 specimens, 11 clinical samples and 11 clinical isolates were positive for xanthomegnin, including T. interdigitale isolates. Although xanthomegnin detection is a rapid and inexpensive method, we concluded that it is not a reliable method for discriminating between T. rubrum and T. mentagrophytes complexes, given that only two-thirds of reference T. rubrum complex strains and 3 strains from the T. mentagrophytes complex produced xanthomegnin.In addition we believe that the results of the present study should be of interest to scientists and clinicians specifically in the field of microbiology.