title: Novel antifungal agents, targets or therapeutic strategies for the treatment of invasive fungal diseases: a review of the literature (2005-2009).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The incidence and prevalence of serious mycoses continues to be a public health problem. Despite aggressive treatment with new or more established licensed antifungal agents, these infections are an important cause of morbidity and mortality, especially in immunocompromised patients.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To critically review the literature regarding important new developments in the field of antifungal therapy both in the English and Spanish versions.
  
  
  METHODS
  The search of the literature focused on different antifungal targets or mechanisms of action as well as new agents or strategies that could improve antifungal therapy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The review produced a huge amount of information on the use of virulent factors such as growth, filamentation, pathogen tissue clearance, among others, as putative targets of antifungal activity. More recently, the chemical-genetic relationships for licensed agents as well as for other compounds have been provided by the identification of the genes related to the mechanism of action.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although the antifungal activity of numerous compounds has been examined, most of them are at the in vitro or animal models of efficacy stages. Therefore, further investigation should be carried out to realize the true clinical utility of these compounds.
authors.affiliation: VCU Medical Center, Richmond, VA, USA. avingrof@vcu.edu
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Espinel-Ingroff
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000145:classification / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018441:Biofilms / Q000187:drug effects; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003455:Cryptococcus neoformans / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D055808:Drug Discovery; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; D016903:Drug Monitoring; D004357:Drug Synergism; D015507:Drugs, Investigational / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D006801:Humans; D009181:Mycoses / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010455:Peptides / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D015507:Drugs, Investigational; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D005227:Fatty Acids; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D010455:Peptides