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Review
. 2025 Jun 24;52(1):634.
doi: 10.1007/s11033-025-10744-4.

Dermatophytosis in context of Trichophyton rubrum: host defense mechanisms, virulence factors, and treatment innovations

Khushboo Arya  1 , Saumya Chaturvedi  1 , Sana Akhtar Usmani  1 , Shikha Chandra  1 , Nitin Bhardwaj  2 , Manoj Kumar  3 , Sonam Kumari  4 , Rajendra Prasad  5 , Ashutosh Singh  6
Affiliations
Review

Dermatophytosis in context of Trichophyton rubrum: host defense mechanisms, virulence factors, and treatment innovations

Khushboo Arya et al. Mol Biol Rep. .

Abstract

Dermatophytosis is a superficial fungal infection caused by a group of keratinophilic fungi, which can sometimes be invasive. Factors like its contagious nature, widespread impact, resistance to treatment, and the fact that it is recurrent and highly impacts the quality of life make it more serious. This review will delve into the intricacies of infection caused by Trichophyton rubrum. T. rubrum is the most common and potent infectious agent among all the dermatophytes. Reported worldwide, it causes chronic infections in humans. These infections are difficult to manage due to frequently encountered cross-resistance to known antifungals. Independent studies have implicated the roles of several proteins in virulence and pathogenesis mechanisms. In this review, we have discussed research advances in the field of host-pathogen interaction, virulence factors, drug development, drug resistance mechanism and other technological progress concerning T. rubrum mediated dermatophytosis.

Keywords: Trichophyton rubrum; Drug resistance; Epidemiology; Pathogenesis; Virulence.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

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