Hamycin therapy of murine disseminated candidiasis: efficacy and interaction with fluconazole

The efficacy of antifungal agent, hamycin, in a murine model of disseminated candidiasis was studied. Mice were intravenously infected with Candida albicans blastoconidia and treated for 14 days with intraperitoneal hamycin, oral fluconazole, or a combination of these two. Hamycin alone was most efficacious in prolonging survival and in decreasing renal colony counts, usually with complete sterilization of the kidneys by the end of the treatment period. Fluconazole improved survival rates and effected a decrease in renal colony counts, but kidneys were not microbiologically sterilized. Combination therapy with hamycin and fluconazole did not result in a decrease in the efficacy of hamycin by either end point (survival or renal colony counts). High-pressure liquid chromatographic analysis of Hamycin concentrations in serum indicated lowlevels of absorption of the drug. From the results of the present study, it can be concluded that hamycin is effective in the treatment of murine invasive candidiasis and that the theoretical concern about adverse interactions between the two drug does not apply to the dosages studied in these experiments.