ENHANCED DIALLYL TRISULFIDE HAS IN-VITRO SYNERGY WITH AMPHOTERICIN-B AGAINST CRYPTOCOCCUS-NEOFORMANS

Although amphotericin B remains the drug of choice for systemic fungal infections, its use is limited by considerable side effects. In The P eoples' Republic of China, commercial Allium sativum derived compounds are widely used as an antifungal drug to treat systemic fungal infect ions. To evaluate the scientific merit of using A. sativum derived com pounds as antifungal agents, we studied a Chinese commercial preparati on, allitridium. This preparation contained mainly diallyl trisulfide as confirmed by high performance liquid chromatography. Allitridium, w ith and without amphotericin B, was tested to determine its efficacy i n killing three isolates of Cryptococcus neoformans. The minimum inhib itory concentration of the commercial preparation was 50 mu g/ml and t he minimum fungicidal concentration was 100 mu g/ml against 1 x 10(5) organisms of C. neoformans. In addition, the commercial preparation wa s shown to be synergistic with amphotericin B in the in vitro killing of C. neoformans. This study demonstrates that diallyl trisulfide and other polysulfides possess potent in vitro fungicidal effects and thei r activity is synergistic with amphotericin B. These observations lend laboratory support for the treatment of cryptococcal infections with both amphotericin B and the Chinese commercial preparation.