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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, October 1998, p. 2495-2502, Vol. 42, No. 10
0066-4804/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Structure-In Vitro Activity Relationships of Pentamidine
Analogues and Dication-Substituted Bis-Benzimidazoles as New
Antifungal Agents
Maurizio
Del
Poeta,1,2
Wiley A.
Schell,1
Christine C.
Dykstra,3
Susan
Jones,4
Richard R.
Tidwell,4
Agnieszka
Czarny,5
Miroslav
Bajic,5
Marina
Bajic,5
Arvind
Kumar,5
David
Boykin,5 and
John R.
Perfect1,*
Department of Medicine, Division of
Infectious Diseases and International Health, Duke University Medical
Center, Durham, North Carolina 277101;
Department of Pathobiology, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama
368493;
Department of Pathology and
Laboratory Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
Chapel Hill, North Carolina 275994;
Department of Chemistry, Georgia State University, Atlanta,
Georgia 303035; and
Institute of
Infectious Diseases and Public Health, University of Ancona,
Ospedale Umberto I°, 60121 Ancona, Italy2
Received 13 February 1998/Returned for modification 1 April
1998/Accepted 10 July 1998
Twenty analogues of pentamidine, 7 primary metabolites of
pentamidine, and 30 dicationic substituted bis-benzimidazoles
were screened for their inhibitory and fungicidal activities against Candida albicans and Cryptococcus
neoformans. A majority of the compounds had MICs at which 80% of
the strains were inhibited (MIC80s) comparable to those of
amphotericin B and fluconazole. Unlike fluconazole, many of these
compounds were found to have potent fungicidal activity. The most
potent compound against C. albicans had an
MIC80 of
0.09 µg/ml, and the most potent compound against C. neoformans had an MIC80 of 0.19 µg/ml. Selected compounds were also found to be active against
Aspergillus fumigatus, Fusarium solani,
Candida species other than C. albicans, and fluconazole-resistant strains of C. albicans and C. neoformans. It is clear from the data
presented here that further studies on the structure-activity relationships, mechanisms of action and toxicities, and in vivo efficacies of these compounds are warranted to determine their clinical
potential.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health,
Duke University Medical Center, P.O. Box 3353, Durham, NC 27710. Phone: (919) 684-2660. Fax: (919) 684-8902. E-mail: perfe001{at}mc.duke.edu.
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, October 1998, p. 2495-2502, Vol. 42, No. 10
0066-4804/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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