PREGNENOLONE ACETATE IN TREATMENT OF MYCETOMA (NOCARDIOSIS)

Abstract

THE PURPOSES of this presentation are (1) to report a case of mycetoma (nocardiosis) in a child who had failed to respond to all the standard forms of therapy and who apparently has been cured by treatment with pregnenolone acetate and (2) to call attention to pregnenolone acetate as an agent free from undesirable metabolic or toxic effects, which has useful antifungal properties that warrant further clinical investigation. BACKGROUND With the increased interest in antifungal medicaments, many new approaches are under investigation. The Streptomyces group of Actinomycetes have yielded many new antibiotics which show some antifungal properties, such as acti-dione,® from Streptomyces griseus. Other Streptomycetes may yield less toxic and more potent fungicides. The ideal antifungal drug would be one which could be used both locally and orally, which would diffuse through sweat, the nail bases, and the sebum of the hair follicles and which would thus