title: Effect of amphotericin B dilution with various beverages on the survival of Candida albicans cells.
abstract: Amphotericin B (AMPH) has been generally used for prophylaxis or treatment of specific fungal diseases in immunocompromised patients. However, because it is difficult for children to ingest, mainly because of its bitter taste, it is often diluted with soft drinks. We therefore investigated the effect of dilution of AMPH with various beverages on its antifungal activity in vitro. Candida albicans cells were exposed for 30 min to AMPH diluted twofold with each of six commercially available beverages or distilled water, and percent survival was determined. The results showed 60% survival in the dilution with distilled water and higher survival when diluted with Yakult (136%; p < 0.01), orange juice (104%; p < 0.01), and coffee-milk (92%; p < 0.01). By contrast, lower survival was obtained when diluted with gum-syrup (54%), sweet cider (76%), and shaved-ice syrup (52%) with no significant differences from distilled water (60%), suggesting that these three beverages may be useful for diluting AMPH. The results of this study are a warning to medical workers that some methods of making AMPH more palatable considerably decrease its antifungal activity and may have a negative effect on host defenses against infectious diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Nursing, Yamanashi Medical University, Tamaho, Yamanashi 409-3898, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomoe
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohshima
authors.forename: Yozo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miyakawa
authors.forename: Tamiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohyama
mesh_terms: D000666:Amphotericin B / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology; D001628:Beverages; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D000666:Amphotericin B