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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, January 2008, p. 321-328, Vol. 52, No. 1
0066-4804/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AAC.00699-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Comparative In Vitro Pharmacodynamics of Caspofungin, Micafungin, and Anidulafungin against Germinated and Nongerminated Aspergillus Conidia{triangledown}

Charalampos Antachopoulos,1 Joseph Meletiadis,1 Tin Sein,1 Emmanuel Roilides,1,2 and Thomas J. Walsh1*

Immunocompromised Host Section, Pediatric Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland,1 Third Department of Pediatrics, Aristotle University, Hippokration Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece2

Received 29 May 2007/ Returned for modification 9 July 2007/ Accepted 8 October 2007

The concentration-dependent effects of echinocandins on the metabolic activity of Aspergillus spp. were comparatively studied by using nongerminated and germinated conidia. The susceptibilities of 11 Aspergillus fumigatus, 8 A. terreus and 8 A. flavus isolates to caspofungin, micafungin, and anidulafungin were studied by a CLSI (formerly NCCLS) M38-A broth microdilution-based method. After 48 h of incubation the minimum effective concentration (MEC) was defined microscopically. Metabolic activity was assessed by the 2,3-bis-(2-methoxy-4-nitro-5-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium-5-carboxanilide assay and modeled by using the sigmoid (Emax) or "bell-shaped" model. The median MEC values of caspofungin (0.5 to 1 µg/ml), micafungin (0.06 to 0.12 µg/ml), and anidulafungin (0.03 µg/ml) against nongerminated conidia increased by 0 to 1, 1 to 2, and 2 to 3 twofold dilutions, respectively (depending on the species), over those against germinated conidia. A similar shift to the right was demonstrated for the corresponding curves of metabolic activity. There was a significant correlation between the degrees of maximal metabolic inhibition caused by different echinocandins at both the species level (greater inhibition for A. flavus) and the strain level (r = 0.84 to 0.93; P < 0.0001). Paradoxical increases in metabolism in the presence of higher concentrations of caspofungin, micafungin, and anidulafungin were detected in 6, 2, and 5 of the A. fumigatus isolates, respectively; 5, 1, and 2 of the A. terreus isolates, respectively; and 1, 0, and 0 of the A. flavus isolates, respectively. Based on the model, 50% of the maximal paradoxical increase was detected with 4.2, 11.1, and 10.8 µg/ml of caspofungin, micafungin, and anidulafungin, respectively. All echinocandins therefore exerted comparable levels of maximal metabolic inhibition against Aspergillus spp. at concentrations that were differentially increased for germinated versus nongerminated conidia. The paradoxical increase in metabolism occurred more frequently and at lower concentrations with caspofungin than with micafungin and anidulafungin.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Pediatric Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, CRC, Rm 1-5750, MSC 1100, 10 Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892. Phone: (301) 402-0023. Fax: (301) 480-2308. E-mail: walsht{at}mail.nih.gov

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 15 October 2007.

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, January 2008, p. 321-328, Vol. 52, No. 1
0066-4804/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AAC.00699-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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