Anti-Candida Activity of New Azole Derivatives Alone and in Combination with Fluconazole

The rate of Candida spp. infection is increasing, and resistance to azole antifungals is becoming increasingly common. Therefore, there is a need for discovery of new antifungal agents and for development of new modes of treatment using existing agents. In this in vitro study, the antifungal activity of two new imidazole derivatives was tested against a set of 20 Candida isolates, which included five different species. Treatment was carried out with the compound alone and in combination with fluconazole. Overall, we found that one of the new compounds, 31, was similar to fluconazole (FLC) in its efficacy against the Candida isolates and that compound 42 was superior to FLC. Furthermore, when combined with FLC, both compounds showed synergistic effects against 17 of the 20 tested isolates. No antagonistic interactions were observed. This study shows that our two new imidazole-derived compounds have good potential as general treatments for Candida infection and as a means to improve the current treatments with FLC.