Skip to main content
PMC home page
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy logoLink to Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
. 1980 Mar;17(3):484–487. doi: 10.1128/aac.17.3.484

Combined effect of amphotericin B and rifampin on Candida species.

J E Edwards Jr, J Morrison, D K Henderson, J Z Montgomerie
PMCID: PMC283814  PMID: 7425608

Abstract

Synergism with the combination of rifampin and amphotericin B in vitro has been demonstrated with a limited number of Candida strains. To extend these studies (particularly at clinically achievable levels of rifampin), we evaluated the in vitro combined activity of serial twofold dilutions of amphotericin B (0.1 to 6.0 microgram/ml) against 11 concentrations of rifampin (0.2 to 200 microgram/ml) for 40 strains of Candida: 20 Candida albicans, 7 Candida parapsilosis, 8 Candida tropicalis, 2 Candida stellatoidea, 2 Candida guilliermondii, and 1 Candida krusei by using a modified checkerboard microtitration technique. An additive or synergistic effect was seen for 45% of strains with 6.25 microgram of rifampin per ml added to amphotericin B. Whereas the minimal inhibitory concentration to amphotericin B alone was 0.4 microgram/ml or less for 50% of the strains, the percentage increased to 90 with the addition of 6.25 microgram of rifampin per ml. A similar effect was seen with killing: 25% of the strains were killed by 0.4 microgram or less of amphotericin B alone per ml, and 75% of the strains were killed with the addition of 6.25 microgram of rifampin per ml. In vivo studies are needed for confirmation of the usefulness of combined amphotericin B and rifampin therapy.

Full text

PDF
487

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Anséhn S., Granström S., Höjer H., Nilsson L., Akesson E., Lundin A., Thore A. In-vitro effects of Candida albicans of amphotericin B combined with other antibiotics. Preliminary observations. Scand J Infect Dis Suppl. 1976;(9):62–66. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Beggs W. H., Sarosi G. A., Andrews F. A. Synergistic action of amphotericin B and rifampin on Candida albicans. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1974 Nov;110(5):671–673. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1974.110.5.671. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Beggs W. H., Sarosi G. A., Walker M. I. Synergistic action of amphotericin B and rifampin against Candida species. J Infect Dis. 1976 Feb;133(2):206–209. doi: 10.1093/infdis/133.2.206. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bennett J. E. Chemotherapy of systemic mycoses (second of two parts). N Engl J Med. 1974 Feb 7;290(6):320–323. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197402072900607. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Block E. R., Jennings A. E., Bennett J. E. Variables influencing susceptibility testing of Cryptococcus neoformans to 5-fluorocytosine. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1973 Oct;4(4):392–395. doi: 10.1128/aac.4.4.392. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Dougherty P. F., Yotter D. W., Matthews T. R. Microdilution transfer plate technique for determining in vitro synergy of antimicrobial agents. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1977 Feb;11(2):225–228. doi: 10.1128/aac.11.2.225. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Harwick H. J., Kalmanson G. M., Guze L. B. In vitro activity of ampicillin or vancomycin combined with gentamicin or streptomycin against enterococci. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1973 Oct;4(4):383–387. doi: 10.1128/aac.4.4.383. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kobbayashi G. S., Medoff G., Schlessinger D., Kwan C. N., Musser W. E. Amphotericin B potentiation of rifampicin as an antifungal agent against the yeast phase of Histoplasma capsulatum. Science. 1972 Aug 25;177(4050):709–710. doi: 10.1126/science.177.4050.709. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kwan C. N., Medoff G., Kobayashi G. S., Schlessinger D., Raskas H. J. Potentiation of the antifungal effects of antibiotics by amphotericin B. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1972 Aug;2(2):61–65. doi: 10.1128/aac.2.2.61. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Lou P., Kazdan J., Bannatyne R. M., Cheung R. Successful treatment of Candida endophthalmitis with a synergistic combination of amphotericin B and rifampin. Am J Ophthalmol. 1977 Jan;83(1):12–15. doi: 10.1016/0002-9394(77)90183-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Montgomerie J. Z., Edwards J. E., Jr, Guze L. B. Synergism of amphotericin B and 5-fluorocytosine for candida species. J Infect Dis. 1975 Jul;132(1):82–86. doi: 10.1093/infdis/132.1.82. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES