In vivo activity of sertaconazole in experimental candidiasis in the mouse.

The antifungal activity of sertaconazole (SZ), 1-(2-[(7-chlorobenzo[b]thien-3-yl)methoxyl]- 2-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)ethyl)-1H-imidazole, has been assessed in vivo in comparison with miconazole (MZ) in a murine vaginal candidiasis model. Mice (eight per group) were maintained in oestrus by subcutaneous injection of oestradiol benzoate (25 mg/kg) 5 days before and 2 days after inoculation intravaginally with 5 x 10(4) blastospores of C. albicans (strain No. 17) in 0.05 ml. Animals were treated with 0.03 ml of the appropriate 2% cream formulation 1 h after infection (single dose regimen) or on days 3, 4 and 5 post-infection (three-dose regimen). The efficacy was measured in each test group by Sabouraud agar plate count of vaginal specimens and expressed as % reduction in the number of yeast cells with regard to the control group (infected and untreated). The two treatments indicated a significant reduction (according to the non-parametric method of Mann-Whitney) (p greater than 0.05) for both SZ (97.9% and 93.6%) and MZ (77.5% and 76.9%) groups. When the values from SZ and MZ were compared, SZ proved more active than MZ in the single dose regimen.