BACKGROUND
Treatment of
mycoses is often ineffective, usually prolonged, and has some side effects. These facts highlight the importance of discovering new molecules to treat
fungal infections. OBJECTIVES To search the Medicines for
Malaria Venture COVID Box for
drugs with antifungal activity.
METHODS Fourteen
human pathogenic
fungi were tested against the 160
drugs of this collection at 1.0 µM concentration. We evaluated the
ability of the
drugs to impair fungal
growth, their fungicidal
nature, and morphological changes caused to
cells. FINDINGS Thirty-four molecules (21.25%) presented antifungal activity. Seven are antifungal
drugs and one is the agricultural fungicide
cycloheximide. The other
drugs with antifungal activity included
antibiotics (n = 3),
antimalarials (n = 4),
antivirals (n = 2), antiparasitcs (n = 3),
antitumor agents (n = 5),
nervous system agents (n = 3),
immunosuppressants (n = 3), antivomiting (n = 1),
antiasthmatic (n = 1), and a
genetic disorder agent (n = 1). Several of these
drugs inhibited
Histoplasma capsulatum and
Paracoccidioides brasiliensis growth (15 and 20, respectively), while
Fusarium solani was not affected by the
drugs tested. Most
drugs were fungistatic, but
niclosamide presented fungicidal activity against the three dimorphic
fungi tested.
Cyclosporine affected morphology of
Cryptococcus neoformans. MAIN CONCLUSIONS These
drugs represent new alternatives to the development of more accessible and effective
therapies to treat
human fungal infections.