In vitro activity of nitroxoline against clinical isolates of Candida species

The in vitro antifungal activity of the quinoline nitroxoline has been compared with those of amphotericin B, flucytosine, and two azoles, miconazole and ketoconazole, against clinical isolates of Candida spp. A total of 186 isolates of 10 species of Candida and two culture collection strains were tested by an agar-dilution technique. Nitroxoline was highly active against Candida spp. MICs for nitroxoline ranged between 0.25-2 micrograms ml-1 for 186 representative strains. With MIC90 as the measure of antifungal activity, nitroxoline appeared to be superior to the imidazoles studied. Data for individual species of Candida revealed that the activities of nitroxoline and amphotericin B were generally just as effective against C. albicans, whereas flucytosine was the most active agent against Candida spp.