In vitro activities of voriconazole as a triazole derivative and caspofungin as an echinocandin were compared with those of some antifungal agents against Candida species isolated from clinical specimens

Abstract

We evaluated the in vitro activity of ketoconazole (KET), fluconazole (FLU), amphotericin B (AmpB), and flucytosine (FCU) in comparison to voriconazole (VOR) as a triazole derivative and caspofungin (CAS) as an echinocandin against 114 Candida spp. isolated from different cultures (blood, urine, sputum). The most common species of identified Candida were C. albicans (88), followed by C. parapsilosis (8), C. glabrata (7), C. tropicalis (6), C. famata (2), C. kefyr (2), and C. sake (1). The Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute M 27-A method was used to evaluate the activity of antifungal agents. The minimal inhibitory concentrations of the strains were evaluated by RPMI 1640 medium using a microdilution method. Of 114 isolates, 100% were sensitive to AmpB, VOR, and CAS, 1.75% showed intermediate resistant to FCU also 0.87% showed intermediate resistant to FLU, and 2.63% were fully resistant to FLU and FCU. These results suggest that KET, AmpB, CAS, and VOR demonstrated excellent activity against all Candida spp. Taken together; these antifungal agents should be effective in the treatment of a broad range of Candida infections.