title: Topical voriconazole as a novel treatment for fungal keratitis.
abstract: Paecilomyces lilacinus is a fungal pathogen which is generally resistant to amphotericin B and certain other antifungals and is an uncommon cause of devastating fungal keratitis. In the present studies, we evaluated topical voriconazole as therapy for P. lilacinus keratitis in rabbits. Thirty eyes of 15 rabbits were studied. In five animals, the uninfected left eye was treated twice daily with voriconazole (drug control, uninfected eye). In these same animals, the right eye was infected with P. lilacinus but not treated with voriconazole (infection control eye). By day 5, the infection controls had lesions of >2.4 mm in diameter, with conjunctivitis and severe hypopyon, and were sacrificed. In the other 10 rabbits (voriconazole treatment), the right eyes were infected with P. lilacinus and treated with voriconazole beginning on day 3 after infection. Voriconazole therapy caused lesions to decrease during 8 days of therapy, after which rabbits were sacrificed (11 days postinfection). Hyphal masses were present in the control infected eyes and absent in treated infected eyes. Voriconazole was detected in all tissues of treated eyes. Topical voriconazole is effective treatment for P. lilacinus experimental keratitis, and it penetrates more deeply than the corneal tissue.
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Texas 78229-3900, USA.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sponsel
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Demi
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dang
authors.forename: Gianmarco
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Paris
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Graybill
authors.forename: Laura K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Najvar
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Kwok-Wai
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.forename: Randolph
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Glickman
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Scribbick
mesh_terms: D000287:Administration, Topical; D000818:Animals; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003319:Corneal Stroma / Q000382:microbiology; D003320:Corneal Ulcer / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D015821:Eye Infections, Fungal / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D007634:Keratitis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D010143:Paecilomyces / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011743:Pyrimidines / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011817:Rabbits; D014230:Triazoles / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D065819:Voriconazole
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D011743:Pyrimidines; D014230:Triazoles; D065819:Voriconazole