Terbinafine is used as the first-line therapy for dermatophytosis, but the incidence of terbinafine resistance is increasing. A combination of terbinafine with itraconazole was tested using the checkerboard method based on the EUCAST methodology for antifungal susceptibility testing against 9 terbinafine-susceptible and 7 terbinafine-resistant clinical isolates of Trichophyton spp. from India. Synergistic interactions were observed for 4/9 of the susceptible isolates, with fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI) values of 0.3125 to 0.5, and for 4/7 of the resistant isolates, with FICI values of 0.032 to 0.3125.
Keywords: EUCAST; Trichophyton; antifungal combination; dermatophytes; itraconazole; terbinafine.