In vitro susceptibility of environmental Cryptococcus neoformans variety neoformans isolates from Turkey to six antifungal agents, including SCH56592 and voriconazole.

The in vitro antifungal susceptibility of 27 environmental (pigeon droppings) isolates of Cryptococcus neoformans var. neoformans, isolated from throughout Turkey, to six antifungal agents (amphotericin B, flucytosine, fluconazole, voriconazole, itraconazole, and SCH56592) was studied. Voriconazole, itraconazole, and SCH56592 all showed comparable activity and were more active than the remaining three antifungal agents tested. Overall, SCH56592 was the most active agent (MIC90, 0.015 microg/ml, at both 48 and 72 h), followed by itraconazole (MIC90, 0.03 microg/ml, at both 48 and 72 h) and voriconazole (MIC90, 0.25 microg/ml, at both 48 and 72 h), respectively. Antifungal susceptibility data for environmental isolates may reflect patterns for the clinical isolates recovered from patients from the same geographic area.