The suitability of Aloe vera products for the treatment of distal limb dermatophilosis in horses

Abstract

Using acute naturally occurring dermatophilosis infections on the distal limbs of horses, Aloe vera, an effective base for aromatherapy mixtures, was compared to an untreated control and a standard chemotherapeutic treatment over a period of five days along with a mixture of the two treatments. A. vera demonstrated very highly significant remission in infected lesion size compared to untreated controls and significantly larger regression when compared to the chemotherapeutic agent. No significant benefits were observed in combining the two treatments. This contrasts with the in vitro testing of chemotherapeutic agents and A. vera against the causal organism of dermatophilosis which showed highly significant inhibition of Dermatophilus congolensis by some of the conventional treatments compared to A. vera. Re-application of A. vera in vitro brought no significant benefit compared to a single application and several A. vera products were similar in bacterial inhibition. It was concluded that A. vera was a valid treatment for distal limb dermatophilosis in horses in its own right, due to its combination of anti-bacterial activity and superior wound healing ability and that a single application of a common A. vera product was a suitable cost-effective treatment.