Antifungal activity of sertaconazole in vitro against clinical isolates of Candida spp.

Sertaconazole is a new azolic derivative containing a benzo(b)-thiophene group, for topical use. It showed in vitro fungistatic and fungicidal activity against yeasts, dermatophytes, opportunistic filamentous fungi and Gram-positive bacteria. In this study, we have evaluated the activity of sertaconazole in vitro against 215 strains of Candida spp. Fluconazole and ketoconazole were used throughout as reference compounds. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined in Casitone medium and the breakpoint was obtained spectrophotometrically and visually. Visual reading of MICs correlated with the spectrophotometric determination, the values of MIC50 and MIC90 showed no difference (+/- 1 dilution) in any of the species tested (range 0.1-16 mg/l). These results show that sertaconazole is an excellent antifungal agent and fungicide in vitro against various species of Candida.