A comparison of miconazole nitrate and selenium disulfide as anti-dandruff agents

The anti-dandruff efficacy of two shampoos containing 2% miconazole nitrate and 2.5% selenium disulfide was compared in 15 subjects and eight subjects, respectively. The antifungal drug, miconazole nitrate, was found to possess anti-dandruff activity similar to selenium sulfide, a cytostatic compound. For evaluation, techniques of clinical grading and the corneocyte count were used and the latter was found inaccurate. Instead, clinical assessment by grading the severity, supplemented by cytodiagnosis by smear examination was found more helpful. The latter helps to evaluate both the altered pathophysiologic and microbial factors operating in a given case of dandruff, which is a symptom complex brought about by multiple etiologic factors.