Use of a modified hair strand test to assess the antifungal activity kinetics of dog hair after a 2% climbazole shampoo application.

Background: The "hair strand test" was first developed as a model to evaluate the antifungal activity of antidandruff shampoos.

Objective: To assess the residual activity of an antifungal shampoo on the hair shafts of dogs after a single application, followed by bathing with a physiological shampoo one month later.

Animals: Six beagles (two males and four females) from a research colony.

Methods: Dogs were bathed with a 2% climbazole shampoo. Hairs were collected before application of the shampoo and at scheduled intervals for 30 days after treatment. A physiological shampoo was then applied to all dogs and hairs were collected following the same schedule. The inhibition zone around the hair shafts was measured after incubation on Sabouraud's dextrose agar plates streaked with three Malassezia pachydermatis strains.

Results: Inhibition zones around hairs collected from dogs bathed with 2% climbazole shampoo were significantly larger than those around hairs collected before shampooing at all time points (P = 0.003). An increase in the width of the inhibition zones around climbazole treated hairs was observed following physiological shampoo on Day 30 (P = 0.005). No significant differences were observed between Malassezia pachydermatis isolates (P = 0.571). No inhibition zones were seen around the hairs of dogs bathed with physiological shampoo only.

Conclusions: The modified hair strand test is useful for the assessment of residual antifungal activity on animal hairs. Use of a physiological shampoo following antifungal shampoo therapy may increase the efficacy of the antifungal product for the control of Malassezia overgrowth.