COOPERATIVE ANTICANDIDA EFFECTS OF LACTOFERRIN OR ITS PEPTIDES IN COMBINATION WITH AZOLE ANTIFUNGAL AGENTS

The effects of lactoferrin (LF), an antimicrobial protein secreted in body fluids, and its peptides in combination with azole antifungal age nts were investigated by the micro-broth-dilution method in a study of Candida albicans, In the case of LF, its pepsin hydrolysate (LFhyd) o r the LF-derived antimicrobial peptide Lactoferricin(R) B (LF-B), the concentrations required to inhibit the growth of Candida decreased in the presence of relatively low concentrations of clotrimazole (CTZ), T he minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of all azole antifungal agen ts tested was reduced by 1/4-1/16 in the presence of a sub-MIG level o f each of these LF-related substances. Polyene and fluoropyrimidine an tifungal agents did not show such a combined effect with these LF-rela ted substances. The anti-Candida activity of LF or LF-B in combination with GTZ was shown to be synergistic by checkerboard analysis. These results indicate that LF-related substances function cooperatively wit h azole antifungal agents against C. albicans.