Amphotericin B resistance of Aspergillus terreus in a murine model of disseminated aspergillosis

• Published in: Journal of medical microbiology Vol. 49; no. 7; pp. 601 - 606
• Main Authors: DANNAOUI, E, BOREL, E, PERSAT, F, PIENS, M.A, PICOT, S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Reading Soc General Microbiol 01.07.2000; Society for General Microbiology
• Subjects: amphotericin B; Amphotericin B - pharmacology; Amphotericin B - therapeutic use; Animals; Antibiotics. Antiinfectious agents. Antiparasitic agents; Antifungal agents; Aspergillosis - drug therapy; Aspergillosis - microbiology; Aspergillus - chemistry; Aspergillus - classification; Aspergillus terreus; Biological and medical sciences; Brain - microbiology; Disease Models, Animal; Drug Resistance, Microbial; Humans; Itraconazole - therapeutic use; Kidney - microbiology; Lung Diseases, Fungal - drug therapy; Lung Diseases, Fungal - microbiology; Medical sciences; Mice; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Middle Aged; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Sterols - analysis; Mycosis; Rodentia; Fungi; Infection; Resistance; Vertebrata; Antifungal agent; Chemotherapy; Experimental disease; Mammalia; Treatment; Amphotericin B; Mouse; Polyenic compound; Aspergillosis; Fungi Imperfecti; Disseminated; Aspergillus terreus; Thallophyta
• ISSN: 0022-2615; 1473-5644
• DOI: 10.1099/0022-1317-49-7-601

Laboratoire de Parasitologie, Mycologie Médicale et Pathologie Exotique, Université Claude Bernard Lyon I, 8 Avenue Rockefeller, 69373 Lyon Cedex, France Corresponding author: Dr E. Dannaoui (e-mail: edanna{at}rockefeller.univ-lyon1.fr ). Received 28 June 1999; revised version received 21 Dec. 1999; accepted 23 Dec. 1999. Abstract The in-vivo activity of amphotericin B and itraconazole against a clinical isolate of Aspergillus terreus was determined in a murine model of disseminated aspergillosis. MICs of amphotericin B and itraconazole for the strain, determined by an NCCLS-based technique, were 2 µg/ml and 1 µg/ml, respectively. Mice infected intravenously were treated with either itraconazole (50 or 100 mg/kg/day) or amphotericin B 4.5 mg/kg/day for 10 days. Treatment with both doses of itraconazole significantly prolonged the survival rates compared with those for untreated mice. In comparison, mortality rate and median survival time were identical for mice treated with amphotericin B and for mice given no therapy, indicating that the strain was highly resistant to amphotericin B in this model. Analysis of sterol composition showed that the major sterol was ergosterol. This suggests that amphotericin B resistance was not related to a modified sterol profile.