In Vitro Antifungal Evaluation, GC-MS Profiling, and Molecular Docking of Eruca sativa Oil, Clove Oil, and Fusarium chlamydosporum Extract Against the Dermatophyte Trichophyton interdigitale.

Antifungal drug resistance in Trichophyton interdigitale reinforces the need for new drugs with multiple targets. The antifungal activity of Eruca sativa seed oil, clove oil, and ethanolic extract of Fusarium chlamydosporum was evaluated against a clinically isolated T. interdigitale Accession No. ON564615 that was later molecularly confirmed. The Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry GC MS method was used to profile the bioactive constituents. In order to analyze their high affinity binding to several important enzymes of the ergosterol pathway such as squalene epoxidase ERG1, C 24 sterol methyltransferase ERG6, and lanosterol 14α demethylase ERG11, their multi target effects were systematically analyzed using integrated molecular docking simulations. In this study E. sativa oil exhibited significant activity yielding an inhibition zone of 57.7 mm and an MIC of 6.25 mg/mL. The effect of F. chlamydosporum extract in combination with clove oil was remarkably strong showing 72.67 mm of inhibition which is higher than that of the first line drug terbinafine 61 mm. In addition the presence of eugenol in clove oil and of ethyl iso allocholate in E. sativa and the fungal extracts was detected by GC MS analysis. The present data are limited to in vitro and in silico testing of a single clinical isolate; however the findings are highly suggestive of the potential of using E. sativa oil and or certain specific combinations of fungal and plant extracts as promising multi target antifungals. In vivo studies are required in the future to fully confirm their clinical translatability against resistant dermatophytosis.