title: In vitro synergistic interactions of the effects of various statins and azoles against some clinically important fungi.
abstract: The treatment of opportunistic fungal infections is often difficult as the number of available antifungal agents is limited. Nowadays, there is increasing interest in the investigation of the antifungal activity of nonantifungal drugs, and in the development of efficient antifungal combination therapy. In this study, the in vitro interactions of the effects of various statins (lovastatin, simvastatin, fluvastatin, atorvastatin (ATO), rosuvastatin (ROS) and pravastatin) and various azole antifungals [miconazole, ketoconazole, itraconazole and fluconazole (FLU)] against different opportunistic pathogenic fungi were investigated using a standard chequerboard broth microdilution method. When the investigated strains were sensitive to both compounds of the combination, additive interactions were frequently noticed. Synergistic interactions were observed in many cases when a strain was sensitive only to the azole compound (as in certain combinations with ATO or ROS) or the statin compound (as in certain combinations with FLU). In many combinations with an additive effect, the concentrations of drugs needed for total growth inhibition could be decreased by several dilution steps. Similar interactions were observed when the variability of the within-species sensitivities to some selected drug combinations was investigated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science and Informatics, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary. nyilasiildi@gmail.com
authors.forename: Ildikó
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nyilasi
authors.forename: Sándor
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kocsubé
authors.forename: Krisztina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Krizsán
authors.forename: László
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Galgóczy
authors.forename: Miklós
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pesti
authors.forename: Tamás
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Papp
authors.forename: Csaba
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vágvölgyi
mesh_terms: D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001230:Aspergillus / Q000187:drug effects*; D001393:Azoles / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002175:Candida / Q000187:drug effects*; D004357:Drug Synergism; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D010879:Piperazines / Q000494:pharmacology*; D020103:Rhizomucor / Q000187:drug effects; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D001393:Azoles; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors; D010879:Piperazines