title: In vitro and in vivo study on the effect of antifungal agents on hematopoietic cells in mice.
abstract: Liposomal amphotericin B, voriconazole, and caspofungin are currently used for systemic and severe fungal infections. Patients with malignant diseases are treated with granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) for the recovery of granulocytes after chemotherapy or hematopoietic cell (HC) transplantation. Since they have a high incidence of fungal infections, they inevitably receive antifungal drugs for treatment and prophylaxis. Despite their proven less toxicity for various cell types comparatively with amphotericin B and the decrease in the number of leukocytes that has been reported as a possible complication in clinical studies, the effect of liposomal amphotericin B, voriconazole, and caspofungin on HCs has not been clarified. The present study aimed to examine the in vitro and in vivo effect of these three modern antifungals on HCs. Colony-forming unit (CFU) assays of murine bone marrow cells were performed in methylcellulose medium with or without cytokines and in the presence or absence of various concentrations of liposomal amphotericin B, voriconazole, and caspofungin. In the in vivo experiments, the absolute number of granulocytes was determined during leukocyte recovery in sublethally irradiated mice receiving each antifungal agent separately, with or without G-CSF. In vitro, all three antifungal drugs were nontoxic and, interestingly, they significantly increased the number of CFU-granulocyte-macrophage colonies in the presence of cytokines, at all concentrations tested. This was contrary to the concentration-dependent toxicity and the significant decrease caused by conventional amphotericin B. In vivo, the number of granulocytes was significantly higher with caspofungin plus G-CSF treatment, higher and to a lesser extent higher, but not statistically significantly, with voriconazole plus G-CSF and liposomal amphotericin B plus G-CSF treatments, respectively, as compared with G-CSF alone. These data indicate a potential synergistic effect of these antifungals with the cytokines, in vitro and in vivo, with subsequent positive effect on hematopoiesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology and BMT Unit, "George Papanicolaou" Hospital, Thessaloniki 57010, Greece Department of Genetics, Development and Molecular Biology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 54124, Greece msamalidou@yahoo.gr.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Samalidou
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology and BMT Unit, "George Papanicolaou" Hospital, Thessaloniki 57010, Greece.
authors.forename: Dimitris
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bougiouklis
authors.affiliation: First Department of Microbiology, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 54124, Greece.
authors.forename: Timoleon-Achilleas
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Vyzantiadis
authors.affiliation: Clinical Microbiology Laboratory, Attikon University Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens 12462, Greece.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Meletiadis
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Applications and Technology, University of Ioannina, Ioannina 45110, Greece.
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Monokrousos
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology and BMT Unit, "George Papanicolaou" Hospital, Thessaloniki 57010, Greece.
authors.forename: Eleni
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Siotou
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Development and Molecular Biology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 54124, Greece.
authors.forename: Afroditi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sivropoulou
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology and BMT Unit, "George Papanicolaou" Hospital, Thessaloniki 57010, Greece.
authors.forename: Achilles
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Anagnostopoulos
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology and BMT Unit, "George Papanicolaou" Hospital, Thessaloniki 57010, Greece.
authors.forename: Damianos
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sotiropoulos
mesh_terms: D000666:Amphotericin B / Q000633:toxicity; D000818:Animals; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000633:toxicity*; D000077336:Caspofungin; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D054714:Echinocandins / Q000633:toxicity; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000494:pharmacology; D006098:Granulocytes / Q000187:drug effects; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000187:drug effects*; D055666:Lipopeptides; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D065819:Voriconazole / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D054714:Echinocandins; D055666:Lipopeptides; C068538:liposomal amphotericin B; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor; D000666:Amphotericin B; D000077336:Caspofungin; D065819:Voriconazole
keywords: caspofungin; cell culture; granulocytes; hematopoiesis; liposomal amphotericin B; voriconazole