# An Assessment of the Antifungal Efficacy of a Novel Topical Onychomycosis Treatment Using Human Nail and Skin Infection Models

## TL;DR

A new water-soluble treatment called WSNS-PO was tested for its ability to treat and prevent fungal nail infections, showing promising results in nail and skin models.

## Contribution

WSNS-PO is a novel topical treatment that demonstrates effective antifungal properties and barrier formation against various fungi.

## Key findings

- WSNS-PO effectively permeated nails and reduced T. rubrum colonization in human nail fragments.
- The treatment prevented fungal transfer between nails and inhibited colonization of human skin by various fungi.
- WSNS-PO showed fungistatic, barrier-forming, and anti-adhesive properties comparable to existing antifungals.

## Abstract

Onychomycosis, a fungal nail infection, affects about 4% of the global population. Current topical antifungals like ciclopirox and amorolfine have limited effectiveness, highlighting the need for better treatments. WSNS-PO is a novel water-soluble therapy designed to treat and prevent onychomycosis by enhancing nail health. This study evaluated WSNS-PO’s ability to penetrate the nail plate and to treat and prevent infection by Trichophyton rubrum using bovine hoof membranes and human nail clippings. The anti-fungal efficacy of WSNS-PO was additionally evaluated against other dermatophytes, non-dermatophyte fungi, and yeast. The results showed that WSNS-PO effectively permeated nails and reduced and prevented the colonization of human nail fragments by T. rubrum ex vivo, demonstrating an efficacy comparable to ciclopirox and amorolfine. WSNS-PO also prevented the transfer of T. rubrum infection between nails and inhibited the fungal colonization of human skin by dermatophyte and non-dermatophyte fungi and yeast. Together, these results indicate that WSNS-PO possesses fungistatic, barrier-forming, and anti-adhesive properties, suggesting that it holds promise as an onychomycosis treatment against dermatophytes, yeast, and molds.