Antifungal activity of the piroctone olamine in experimental intra-abdominal candidiasis

This work aimed to evaluate the antifungal activity of piroctone olamine in the treatment of intra-abdominal candidiasis in an experimental model using Swiss mice. The mice (n = 6) were infected by intraperitoneal injection of 0.2 ml of C. albicans (10(7)cells/ml in saline). The animals were observed daily for clinical signs and mortality for 14 days. The treatment with piroctone olamine (0.5 mg/kg) was performed 72 h after infection by intraperitoneal administration. For comparison, a group of animals (n = 6) was treated with amphotericin B (0.5 mg/kg). The mycological diagnosis was made by collecting the liver, spleen and kidneys. Data regarding the fungal growth and mortality were analyzed statistically by Student's t test and analysis of variance (ANOVA), with level of significance set at P < 0.05. The difference in fungal growth scoring between the control group and the treatment groups (piroctone olamine and amphotericin B) was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The difference in fungal growth scoring between the treatment groups (piroctone olamine and amphotericin B) was not statistically significant (P < 0.05).