In vitro and in vivo antifungal activities of DU-6859a, a fluoroquinolone, in combination with amphotericin B and fluconazole against pathogenic fungi

Abstract

DU-6859a is an investigational fluoroquinolone agent with potent bactericidal activity, but by itself it has no antifungal activity. When combined with amphotericin B (AmB), however, DU-6859a clearly enhanced the in vitro antifungal activity of AmB against Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis, Candida krusei, Candida glabrata, and Cryptococcus neoformans in microdilution checkerboard studies. Positive interactions of DU-6859a with AmB against Aspergillus fumigatus were dependent on the medium used; yeast nitrogen base supplemented with amino acids, ammonium sulfate, and 1% glucose was better for demonstrating synergism, while in RPMI 1640 medium, unexpected antagonism between the drugs occurred against three of the strains tested. In combination with fluconazole (Flu), DU-6859a increased the activity of Flu against C. albicans both in synthetic amino acid medium fungal and in supplemented yeast nitrogen base. An in vitro time-kill study revealed that DU-6859a combined with AmB significantly suppressed the regrowth of C. albicans compared with the suppression brought about by AmB used alone in a concentration-dependent fashion. Furthermore, in a model of C. albicans infection in mice, the fungal load in infected kidneys was significantly less in mice given the combination treatment of DU-6859a plus either AmB or Flu, and thus, the combination treatment resulted in prolonged survival of infected mice compared with treatment with either antifungal alone. The prolonged survival in mice given the combined treatment was also observed in mice with A. fumigatus infection, indicating that DU-6859a potentiated the actions of the antifungal agents in vivo as well as in vitro.