The combined utilization of Chlorhexidine and Voriconazole or Natamycin to combat Fusarium infections
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Open Access
The combined utilization of Chlorhexidine and Voriconazole or Natamycin to combat Fusarium infections Tao Jiang1†, Jing Tang2†, Zhiqin Wu3, Yi Sun4, Jingwen Tan5*
and Lianjuan Yang5
Abstract Background: Fusarium species are the fungal pathogens most commonly responsible for the mycotic keratitis, which are resistant to the majority of currently available antifungal agents. The present study was designed to assess the efficacy of a combination of low doses chlorhexidine with two other commonly used drugs (voriconazole and natamycin) to treat Fusarium infections. Results: We utilized combinations of chlorhexidine and natamycin or voriconazole against 20 clinical Fusarium strains in vitro using a checkerboard-based microdilution strategy. In order to more fully understand the synergistic interactions between voriconazole and chlorhexidine, we utilized a Galleria mellonella model to confirm the combined antifungal efficacy of chlorhexidine and voriconazole in vivo. We found that for voriconazole, natamycin, and chlorhexidine as single agents, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ranges were 2–8, 4–16, and > 16 μg/ml, respectively. In contrast, the MIC values for voriconazole and chlorhexidine were reduced to 0.25–1 and 1–2 μg/ml, respectively, when these agents were administered in combination, with synergy being observed for 90% of tested Fusarium strains. Combined chlorhexidine and natamycin treatment, in contrast, exhibited synergistic activity for only 10% of tested Fusarium strains. We observed no evidence of antagonism. Our in vivo model results further confirmed the synergistic antifungal activity of chlorhexidine and voriconazole. Conclusions: Our results offer novel evidence that voriconazole and chlorhexidine exhibit synergistic activity when used to suppress the growth of Fusarium spp., and these agents may thus offer value as a combination topical antifungal treatment strategy. Keywords: Fusarium, Chlorhexidine, Voriconazole, Natamycin, Synergistic
Background Keratomycosis is a form of fungal infection that can be challenging to treat, and that can result in permanent and severe vision damage when not adequately treated [1]. Fusarium species are the causative pathogens in between 36 and 67% of all traumatic keratitis cases, in * Correspondence: [email protected] † Tao Jiang and Jing Tang contributed equally to this study and are joint first authors. 5 Department of Medical Mycology, Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200443, China Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
which F. oxysporum was the most frequently isolated species followed by F. solani [2]. Fusarium-related keratitis remains challenging to treat as these fungi are intrinsically resistant to most available antifungal agents. While advances in the standard treatment for keratitis have been developed in recent years, with natamycin (NAT) and voriconazole (VOR) being the current treatment agents of choice, further optimizat
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