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In vivo efficacy of atorvastatin in the treatment of Tinea pedis: stepping forward into drug repositioning

The Journal of Antibiotics volume 78, pages 600–605 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

The assignment of new therapeutic purposes to drugs, known as drug repositioning, has been an important ally in the search for new antifungal drugs. Statin compounds, which are used systemically as cholesterol-lowering, may also exert direct antifungal effects, since the statins are drugs that act to prevent sterol synthesis in both humans and fungi and for this reason they are drug promising to combat mycoses. We evaluate the in vivo efficacy of an atorvastatin-loaded topic emulgel (0.75%, 1.5%, or 3.0% m/m) in an in vivo experimental model Tinea pedis. The results showed that the cutaneous delivery-atorvastatin showed total score reduction after seven days of treatment. We concluded that atorvastatin may be a promising drug for the treatment of superficial and cutaneous mycosis.

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Acknowledgements

We want to express our gratitude to Colorcon® do Brasil for generously providing the HPMC™ K100 LV used in this research.

Funding

This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior–Brazil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001 and 88881.709052/2022-01 (PDPG-CONSOLIDAÇÃO-3-4 (PDPG Emergencial de Consolidação Estratégica dos Programas de Pós-graduação (PPGs) stricto sensu acadêmicos com notas 3 e 4).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Pharmacology, Federal University of São João Del-Rei, Campus Centro Oeste Dona Lindu, Divinópolis, MG, Brazil

    Ari Soares de Oliveira Neto & Marcelo Gonzaga de Freitas Araújo

  2. Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Development, Federal University of São João Del-Rei, Campus Centro Oeste Dona Lindu, Divinópolis, MG, Brazil

    Maria Eliza Samuel Amorim & Rene Oliveira do Couto

  3. Bioactive Natural Products Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Campus, Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil

    Rodrigo Luiz Fabri

Authors
  1. Ari Soares de Oliveira Neto
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  2. Maria Eliza Samuel Amorim
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  3. Rodrigo Luiz Fabri
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  4. Rene Oliveira do Couto
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  5. Marcelo Gonzaga de Freitas Araújo
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Correspondence to Marcelo Gonzaga de Freitas Araújo.

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de Oliveira Neto, A.S., Amorim, M.E.S., Fabri, R.L. et al. In vivo efficacy of atorvastatin in the treatment of Tinea pedis: stepping forward into drug repositioning. J Antibiot 78, 600–605 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41429-025-00848-1

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