Inhibitory effect of tea tree oil and aloe vera leaf gel shampoo on Malassezia Furfur

Abstract

Malassezia furfur, a lipophilic, dimorphic and yeast-like fungus, occurring in human skin as an opportunistic pathogen, causes diseases and physiological states such as dandruff, pityriasis versicolar, seborrheic dermatitis, etc. Dandruff may be defined as a chronic, non-inflammatory scaling of the scalp, characterized by massive desquamation of small flakes of stratum corneum, without evidence of any skin disease either on the scalp or elsewhere. The scales may be dried or trapped in a film or sebum. Dandruff is uncommon in infancy and early childhood but by puberty half of all males and females become affected and it may persist throughout life [1]. Dandruff must therefore be considered a physiological state, cosmetically important, rather than a disease. Hence, it seems too important for researchers to find natural remedies to control it [2]. In this research, suitable media for culturing the organism were standardized. A modified medium for the culturing of M. furfur has been proposed. Growth of the fungus was also determined under the influence of different temperature, pH and salinity. Plant extracts of two species were screened against the growth of the fungus and also was used as shampoos, by 50 volunteers who suffered from dandruff, and the results were discussed. Selection of an appropriate formula was based on antifungal activity against M. furfur, the physical appearance, the chemical properties and stability of the formula. At the end, the observations showed that five percent tea tree oil shampoo worked effectively on most of the volunteers. It provided the required qualities necessary for commercial use more than Aloe vera leaf gel shampoo. The toxicity studies of formulations did not show any toxic or irritating effect after 24 hours of the study [3].