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In vitro interactions between primycin and different statins in their effects against some clinically important fungi

¹ Faculty of Science and Informatics, University of Szeged;

² Department of General and Environmental Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Pecs

³ E-mail: nyilasiildi{at}gmail.com

Received July 2, 2009
Accepted October 23, 2009

The in vitro antifungal activities of primycin and various statins against some opportunistic pathogenic fungi were investigated. Primycin completely inhibited the growth of Candida albicans (MIC: 64 µg ml^-1) and Candida glabrata (MIC: 32 µg ml^-1), and was very effective against Paecilomyces variotii (MIC: 2 µg ml^-1), but it had little effect on Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus flavus or Rhizopus oryzae (MIC: >64 µg ml^-1). The fungi exhibited different degrees of sensitivity to the statins; fluvastatin and simvastatin exerted potent antifungal activities against a wide variety of clinically important fungal pathogens. Atorvastatin, rosuvastatin and lovastatin were slightly effective against all fungal isolates tested, whereas pravastatin was completely ineffective. The in vitro interactions between primycin and the different statins were investigated by using the standard checkerboard titration method. When primycin was combined with fluvastatin, lovastatin or simvastatin, both synergistic and additive effects were observed. The extents of inhibition were higher when these compounds were applied together, and the concentrations of primycin and the given statin needed to block fungal growth completely could be decreased by several dilution steps. Similar interactions were observed when the variability of the within-species sensitivities was investigated.