Antifungal News and Research

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Newly developed palm-sized microarray platform could enable faster, more efficient drug discovery

A new palm-sized microarray that holds 1,200 individual cultures of fungi or bacteria could enable faster, more efficient drug discovery, according to a study published in mBio-, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

25 Jun 2013

UT candidate wins AHA fellowship to support research in cardiovascular, stroke discoveries

University of Texas at San Antonio biomedical engineering Ph.D. candidate Anand Srinivasan has been awarded a $25,000, one-year doctoral fellowship from the American Heart Association (AHA).

20 Jun 2013

Spinal infection at contaminated drug injection site detected using contrast-enhanced MRI screening

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at the site of injection of a contaminated lot of a steroid drug to treat symptoms such as back pain resulted in earlier identification of patients with probable or confirmed fungal spinal or paraspinal infection, allowing early initiation of medical and surgical treatment, according to a study in the June 19 issue of JAMA.

19 Jun 2013

Nearly 5 million asthmatics with ABPA could benefit from antifungal treatment, say researchers

An estimated 4,837,000 asthmatics with allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) could benefit substantially from antifungal treatment, say researchers from the University of Toronto and Manchester University.

9 May 2013

FDA accepts Merck's NDA for NOXAFIL tablets

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced that its New Drug Application for an investigational, tablet formulation of the company's antifungal agent, NOXAFIL (posaconazole), has been accepted for review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

11 Apr 2013

First Edition: April 4, 2013

Kaiser Health News staff writer Julie Appleby, working in collaboration with USA Today, reports: "It's not just sore throats and flu shots anymore. Walgreens today became the first retail store chain to expand its health care services to include diagnosing and treating patients for chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes and high cholesterol. The move is the retail industry's boldest push yet into an area long controlled by physicians, and comes amid continuing concerns about health care costs and a potential shortage of primary care doctors" (Appleby, 4/4).

4 Apr 2013

Sosei commences SO-1105 Phase III trial in oropharyngeal candidiasis

Sosei Group Corporation, the biopharmaceutical company, today announces that its Japanese subsidiary, Sosei Co., Ltd., has initiated a Phase III trial for SO-1105 for the treatment of oropharyngeal candidiasis.

12 Mar 2013

Risk factors for invasive candidiasis in infants clarified

A combination of exposure to broad-spectrum antibiotics and having a platelet count below 50,000/mm3 significantly increases a low-to-normal–weight infant’s chance for developing invasive candidiasis, report researchers.

19 Feb 2013

Early-life exposure to TBT chemical can cause obesity

Exposing pregnant mice to low doses of the chemical tributyltin (TBT) - which was used in marine antifouling paints and is used as an antifungal agent in some paints, certain plastics and a variety of consumer products - can lead to obesity for multiple generations without subsequent exposure, a UC Irvine study has found.

25 Jan 2013

Jagaricin and antifungal drugs: an interview with Prof Christian Hertweck

Most people have already experienced a fungal infection (mycosis) of the outer layer of the skin, athlete’s foot or ringworm. Whereas such infections may be cumbersome and often difficult to cure, usually they are not dangerous. However, in cases where a fungus causes a systemic infection, this is, it infects internal organs such as lungs or brain, the infection may turn into a life-threatening disease. Of course, only pathogenic fungi cause problems and the degree of virulence varies.

18 Dec 2012

New antifungal drugs could be developed based on substance bacteria use to decompose mushrooms

Soft rot diseases cause a great deal of damage in agriculture, and turn fruits, vegetables, and mushrooms to mush. By using imaging mass spectrometry together with genetic and bioinformatic techniques (genome mining), German researchers have now discovered the substance the bacteria use to decompose mushrooms.

29 Nov 2012

Sprucing up treatment for fungal nail infection

A lacquer containing resin from the Norway spruce shows promise as a treatment for onychomycosis, suggest results from an exploratory study.

9 Nov 2012

Physician shares lessons learned from fungal meningitis outbreak

In a new perspective piece being published Online First tonight in Annals of Internal Medicine, a physician recalls lessons learned from treating patients affected by the 2002 outbreak of Exophiala (Wangiella) dermatitidis meningitis or arthritis related to contaminated, injectable coticosteroids prepared from a compounding pharmacy.

20 Oct 2012

Antifungal resistance of Candida genital isolates on the increase

Resistance to antifungal therapy of genital-infection causing Candida species may be an increasing problem, suggests research presented at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology annual congress in Prague, Czech Republic.

3 Oct 2012

Antifungal resistance of Candida genital isolates on the increase

2 Oct 2012

Concern over ameba-infested tap water deaths

People with sinusitis who regularly treat their condition using nasal irrigation should be aware of a potential contamination risk associated with using inadequately filtered tap water, say US researchers.

23 Aug 2012

Thiabendazole drug slows tumor growth and shows promise as chemotherapy for cancer

An inexpensive antifungal drug, thiabendazole, slows tumor growth and shows promise as a chemotherapy for cancer. Scientists in the College of Natural Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin made this discovery by exploiting the evolutionary relatedness of yeast, frogs, mice and humans.

21 Aug 2012

BioDiem granted European patent for antimicrobial drug

Australian vaccine development company BioDiem Ltd (ASX: BDM) announced today the successful granting of a key European patent for its synthetic antimicrobial compound BDM-I. BDM-I is a novel compound active against a range of pathogenic micro-organisms including bacteria, fungi and protozoa. The patent provides protection around BDM-I as a treatment for vulvovaginitis, a general term for inflammation of the vulva or vagina.

7 Aug 2012

ZOLOFT holds promise against cryptococcal meningitis

New research conducted by biologists at Texas A&M University suggests that ZOLOFT, one of the most widely prescribed antidepressants in the world, also packs a potential preventative bonus - potent mechanisms capable of inhibiting deadly fungal infections.

26 Jul 2012

Peritoneal dialysis patients who live remotely face high peritonitis risk

Patients with renal disease who live more than 100 km from their nearest peritoneal dialysis unit face a higher risk for peritonitis, particularly with Staphylococcus aureus, than their peers who live closer, results of a large Australian study show.

10 Jul 2012