Griseofulvin is a metabolic product of Penicillium griseofulvum Dierckx isolated by Oxford, Raistrik and Simonart¹⁾ in 1939. Its antifungal activity was recognized since early time, and it was chiefly used in the agricultural field. In was also found that griseofulvin displayed a systemic antifungal activity when it was applied as a preventive drug for Botrytis infection of lettus and Alternaria disease of tomato.

In 1958, Gentles²⁾ noticed that griseofulvin has a distinct therapeutic effect when it is given orally, 60 mg/kg per day consecutively, to guinea pigs infected experimentally with Microsporum canis. About that time, Lauder and O’Sullivan³⁾ obtained a similar result in cattle infected naturally with Trichophyton rubrum. Since that, griseofulvin became abruptly the object of dermatologists’ attention as a therapeutic for trichophytoses.

Williams, Marten and Sarkaney⁴⁾ firstly in 1958 treated human ringworm patients with griseofulvin. According to their report, 7 cases of ringworm due to Trichophyton rubrum were cured within 2–3 ·weeks by the consecutive oral administration of griseofulvin, 2.0 g daily. The effectiveness of oral griseofulvin in human patients was also proved by Riehl⁵⁾, and Blank and Roth⁶⁾. The present authors have tested the clinical effect of griseofulvin in the treatment of ringworm. The results are described in the present paper.