Sertaconazole antifungal profile determined by a microdilution method versus nine topical substances against dermatophyte fungi.

Antifungal activity and in vitro inhibition time for sertaconazole (STZ) and 9 other topical drugs, namely amorolfine, bifonazole, clotrimazole, econazole, ketoconazole, miconazole, oxiconazole, terbinafine, and tioconazole were determined against 124 clinical isolates of dermatophyte (12 species) fungi by the microdilution method in a liquid medium and the measurement of optical density. STZ's antifungal activity was not always affected by the tested dermatophyte genus, as was the case with the remaining antifungals. In vitro antifungal activity was at the same level for all the studied azole derivatives, but, in terms of partial inhibitory concentrations, STZ starts its in vitro inhibitory activity in a shorter time than the other tested substances, particularly in those incubation periods when the growth of the dermatophyte fungi was more developed.

Antifungal activity of posaconazole against Candida spp. and non-Candida clinical yeasts isolates.

The in vitro antifungal activity of posaconazole was tested against 315 yeast clinical isolates and 11 ATCC reference strains by means an agar diffusion method (Neosensitabs, Rosco,Denmark) based in CLSI M44-A2 document. Posaconazole activity was excellent against Cryptococcus and Rhodotorula species studied and showed very good activity against most species of Candida tested. A total of 13 clinical isolates (4.1%) were resistant: Candida albicans (n=5), Candida glabrata (n=5), Candida tropicalis (n=1), Geotrichum australiensis (n=1) and Geotrichum capitatum (n=1). Our results suggest posaconazole is an effective antifungal agent against the most clinically important yeasts species (92.7% of susceptibility). Agar diffusion method provides good conditions for the posaconazole susceptibility study in the routine laboratory.

In vitro activity of sertaconazole against dermatophyte isolates with reduced fluconazole susceptibility.

We have studied the in vitro antifungal activity of sertaconazole against 114 dermatophytes with low susceptibility to fluconazole following the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards for filamentous fungi (M38-P). However, several important factors such as the temperature (28 vs. 35 degrees C) and time of incubation (4-10 days vs. 21-74 h), have been found to affect dermatophytes. Isolates were recently recovered from human samples. Sertaconazole was active against 114 isolates of 12 fungal dermatophyte species, showing an overall geometric mean of 0.41 microg/ml with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) range of 0.01-2 microg/ml against these isolates with reduced fluconazole susceptibility. Differences between both antifungals were significant (p < 0.05). MIC(50) and MIC(90) of sertaconazole were of 0.5 and 1 microg/ml, respectively, while the MIC of fluconazole was >/=16 microg/ml. None of the isolates was resistant to sertaconazole during the study while for four isolates the MIC of fluconazole was >/=64 microg/ml. No evidence of cross-resistance between both antifungals was found.