ROME—Italian researchers understand the need for natural alternatives to treatments such as equine trichophytosis for topical ailments such as ringworm, and therefore conducted a study on the use of tea tree oil as a antimicrobial (Phytomedicine. 2009;16(11):1056-8). A randomized open clinical trial was carried out on 60 thoroughbred breeding horses affected by equine ringworm. The animals were randomly divided into two groups of 30 subjects. Diagnostic criteria were the presence of clinical signs and positive Trichophyton equinum culture. Specificity control using a tea tree oil mixture in five not-dermatophyte affected animals was also conducted. The antimycotic activity against T. equinum of a mixture containing 25 percent tea tree oil in sweet almond oil was evaluated in vivo treating 30 subjects; the others were administered enilconazole 2 percent solution. The animals of both groups were topically treated twice a day for 15 days with a 25-percent mixture of tea tree oil diluted in sweet almond oil and every three days, four times with enilconazole rinses, respectively. The clinical and mycological outcome were evaluated at day 30 from the start of the treatments. Data analysis was performed by chi square test.
All the treated animals showed complete clinical and aetiological healing. Part of control subjects also showed an improvement and none of them exacerbate the lesions. This therapeutic protocol appeared to be effective and versatile, being applicable immediately after physical examination, prior to having the laboratory response. Researchers concluded the mixture could be an alternative for practitioners interested in herbal medicines, contributing to fulfill the gap existing between in vitro and clinical studies.