IN-VITRO ACTIVITY OF THE NEW TRIAZOLE VORICONAZOLE (UK-109,496) AGAINST OPPORTUNISTIC FILAMENTOUS AND DIMORPHIC FUNGI AND COMMON AND EMERGING YEAST PATHOGENS

The in vitro antifungal activity of a new triazole derivative, voricon azole, was compared with those of itraconazole and amphotericin B agai nst 67 isolates of Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus, Bipolari s spp,, Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium solani, Pseudallescheria boydii, Rhizopus arrhizus, Blastomyces dermatitidis, Histoplasma capsulatum, a nd Sporothrix schenckii. The in vitro activities of voriconazole were also compared with those of amphotericin B, fluconazole, and itraconaz ole against 189 isolates of emerging and common yeast pathogens of Bla stoschizomyces capitatus, Candida (13 species), Cryptococcus neoforman s, Hansenula anomala, Rhodotorula rubra, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Spo robolomyces salmonicolor, and Trichosporon beigelii, MICs were determi ned according to a procedure under evaluation by the National Committe e for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) for broth microdilution te sting of filamentous fungi and by the NCCLS M27-A broth microdilution method for yeasts, The in vitro activities of voriconazole were simila r to or better than those of itraconazole and amphotericin B against A spergillus spp,, Fusarium spp., and P, boydii as well as against B, de rmatitidis and H. capsulatum. The activities of voriconazole were also comparable to or better than those of amphotericin B, fluconazole, an d itraconazole against most species of yeasts tested, Exceptions were certain isolates of R. rubra and S. salmonicolor. These results sugges t that voriconazole has a aide spectrum of activity in vitro; its effe ctiveness in the treatment of human mycoses is under evaluation in cli nical trials.