Antifungal drug resistance of yeasts in dermatology: mechanisms, epidemiology and clinical impact

Azole Antifungal Drug Cross-Resistance: Mechanisms, Epidemiology, and Clinical Significance

Mechanisms of resistance to antifungal agents: yeasts and filamentous fungi.

Failure to respond to antifungal therapy could be due to in vitro resistance (intrinsic or developed during therapy) or clinical resistance; the latter is associated with numerous factors related to the host, the antifungal agent, or the infecting isolate. Recently, a susceptible MIC breakpoint ( < or =2 microg/ml) was designed for Candida spp. to all three available echinocandins, anidulafungi...

Acquired antifungal drug resistance in Aspergillus fumigatus: epidemiology and detection.

Voriconazole is the recommended agent for invasive aspergillosis, with lipid amphotericin B or caspofungin as second line treatment choices. Being the only agents available in oral formulation, azoles are used in chronic infections and often over longer time periods. In addition to being used in clinical medicine, azoles are employed extensively in agriculture. Azole-resistant Aspergillus has b...

Mechanisms of antifungal resistance

The many drugs that are available at present to treat fungal infections can be divided into four broad groups on the basis of their mechanism of action. These antifungal agents either inhibit macromolecule synthesis (flucytosine), impair membrane barrier function (polyenes), inhibit ergosterol synthesis (allylamines, thiocarbamates, azole derivatives, morpholines), or interact with microtubules...

Epidemiology and antifungal resistance in invasive candidiasis

The epidemiology of Candida infections has changed over the last two decades: The number of patients suffering from such infections has increased dramatically and the Candida species involved have become more numerous as Candida albicans is replaced as an infecting agent by various non-C. albicans species (NAC). At the same time, additional antifungal agents have become available. The different...

The potential impact of antifungal drug resistance mechanisms on the host immune response to Candida

A large number of studies have been published over the last two decades examining molecular mechanisms of antifungal resistance in Candida species. However, few of these studies have explored how such mechanisms influence the host immune response to this opportunistic pathogen. With recent advances in our understanding of host immunity to Candida, a body of emerging literature has begun to expl...