Work in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Cryptococcus neoformans suggests that caspofungin could interact with the calcineurin pathway. We examined the in vitro interaction of caspofungin with calcineurin inhibitors (FK506, cyclosporin, FK520 and L685,818) and the TOR inhibitor rapamycin in 13 isolates of Aspergillus species. Caspofungin activity was enhanced by calcineurin/TOR inhibitors for all A...

OBJECTIVES Candidiasis can be associated with the formation of biofilms on bioprosthetic surfaces and the intrinsic resistance of Candida albicans biofilms to the most commonly used antifungal agents has been demonstrated. In this study, we report on the antifungal activity of caspofungin at two different concentrations, on C. albicans and Candida parapsilosis biofilms with different ages of ma...

OBJECTIVE This study was designed to determine clinical outcomes with caspofungin in patients with proven or probable invasive fungal infection (IFI) after a solid organ transplant (SOT) procedure. METHODS In this retrospective observational study, data were collected for a single episode of IFI in patients with an SOT between January 2004 and June 2007. Response was determined by the investi...

Treatment of Aspergillus fumigatus with echinocandins such as caspofungin inhibits the synthesis of cell wall β-1,3-glucan, which triggers a compensatory stimulation of chitin synthesis. Activation of chitin synthesis can occur in response to sub-MICs of caspofungin and to CaCl2 and calcofluor white (CFW), agonists of the protein kinase C (PKC), and Ca(2+)-calcineurin signaling pathways. A. fum...

The potential for interactions between caspofungin and nelfinavir or rifampin was evaluated in two parallel-panel studies. In study A, healthy subjects received a 14-day course of caspofungin alone (50 mg administered intravenously [IV] once daily) (n = 10) or with nelfinavir (1,250 mg administered orally twice daily) (n = 9) or rifampin (600 mg administered orally once daily) (n = 10). In stud...

OBJECTIVES Heat shock protein 90 (hsp90) is targeted by the humoral response in invasive candidiasis. This paper tests for synergy between caspofungin and efungumab--a human antibody fragment against hsp90. METHODS The MIC-0, MIC-2 values and FICI were determined for a range of yeasts against efungumab and caspofungin. These yeasts were injected intravenously into mice with: 100 microL of sal...

Caspofungin is a potent antifungal inhibiting glucan synthesis in Candida species. However, caspofungin is not 100% curative in candidiasis. Therefore, we evaluated combinations of fluconazole with caspofungin for murine candidemia. We could not show any benefit of combined therapy over individual antifungal drugs.

Caspofungin (Merck Pharmaceuticals) was tested in vitro against 25 clinical isolates of Coccidoides immitis. In vitro susceptibility testing was performed in accordance with the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards document M38-P guidelines. Two C. immitis isolates for which the caspofungin MICs were different were selected for determination of the minimum effective concentratio...

Fungal endophthalmitis is a rare condition often associated with poor prognosis. We present a case of postoperative acute fungal endophthalmitis caused by the yeast-like fungus Stephanoascus ciferrii (Candida ciferrii). The fungus was resistant to fluconazole, voriconazole, and amphotericin B but susceptible to caspofungin. Because the degree of vitreal penetration of caspofungin after its intr...

Although the echinocandin caspofungin primarily inhibits the synthesis of cell wall 1,3-beta-D-glucan, its fungicidal activity could also potentially perturb the expression of virulence factors involved in the ability of Candida albicans to cause infection. Expression of the C. albicans secretory aspartyl proteinase (SAP) and phospholipase B (PLB) virulence genes was determined by reverse trans...