title: Comparison of the fungicidal activities of caspofungin and amphotericin B against Candida glabrata.
abstract: We investigated the fungicidal activity of caspofungin (CAS) and amphotericin B (AMB) against 16 clinical isolates of Candida glabrata. The minimum fungicidal concentrations (MFCs) of CAS were similar to those of AMB, ranging from 2.0 to >8.0 microg/ml. Time-kill assays performed on selected isolates showed that AMB was fungicidal at concentrations four times the MIC while CAS was not. A neutropenic-mouse model of disseminated infection was utilized to determine the residual fungal kidney burden. While doses as low as 0.3 and 1 mg/kg of body weight/day of CAS and AMB, respectively, were effective at reducing the counts with respect to controls, organ sterilization was reached when both drugs were administered at 5 mg/kg/day. Our study reveals that, similar to AMB, CAS has the potential for a fungicidal effect in vivo against this difficult-to-treat fungal pathogen.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Malattie Infettive e Medicina Pubblica, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria, Ospedali Riuniti, Umberto I-G. M. Lancisi-G. Salesi, Torrette di Ancona, Ancona, Italy. l.infettive@ao-umbertoprimo.marche.it
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Barchiesi
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Spreghini
authors.forename: Serena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tomassetti
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Arzeni
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Giannini
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Scalise
mesh_terms: D000666:Amphotericin B / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002175:Candida / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development; D000077336:Caspofungin; D054714:Echinocandins; D055666:Lipopeptides; D051379:Mice; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D054714:Echinocandins; D055666:Lipopeptides; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic; D000666:Amphotericin B; D000077336:Caspofungin