The inhibitory effect of LOV has been investigated in detail. LOV induced apoptosis-like

cell death in Mucor racemosus (Roze & Linz, 1998) and inhibited the growth of different Rhizomucor species (Lukács et al., 2004). The fungistatic effect of LOV has been demonstrated in Candida albicans (Gyetvai et al., 2006), and the antifungal activities of SIM and ATO have been observed against Aspergillus fumigatus and various Candida species (Macreadie et al., 2006). The growth-inhibitory effect of statins is probably based on their negative influence on membrane fluidity (Gyetvai et al., 2006). They also indirectly affect cell signaling (Cordle et al., 2005), proliferation and differentiation through inhibition of the synthesis of important terpenoids (Miida et al.,

2004). Because of the fungus-specific or immunomodulating Selleckchem Bleomycin actions of statins, it has been hypothesized that the widespread use of statins by patients with diabetes has led to lower rates of zygomycoses in developed countries since the 1990s (Kontoyiannis, 2007). Some published work has suggested the possibility Selleck Everolimus of the combined application of statins and different antimycotics (Chin et al., 1997; Chamilos et al., 2006; Galgóczy et al., 2007; Natesan et al., 2008; Nyilasi et al., 2010). Azoles are a class of antifungal drugs that target the fungal cell membrane by inhibiting the cytochrome P450-dependent 14α-lanosterol demethylase, which catalyzes a critical step of ergosterol biosynthesis. Imidazoles, such as miconazole (MCZ) and ketoconazole (KET), are generally used topically, whereas triazoles, such as fluconazole (FLU), itraconazole (ITR) and voriconazole, are applied orally or PI-1840 intravenously against systemic mycoses. The aim of our study was to examine the inhibition of fungal growth by pairs of drugs, in order to find effective drug combinations. Each pair contained a statin (LOV, SIM, FLV, ATO, ROS or PRA) and an azole

compound (MCZ, KET, ITR and FLU). The in vitro interactions of the effects of these compounds against some opportunistic pathogenic yeasts and filamentous fungi were examined using a standard chequerboard broth microdilution method. Clinically important Candida (C. albicans and Candida glabrata) and Aspergillus species (A. fumigatus and Aspergillus flavus) and Rhizopus oryzae, the most frequent causative agent of zygomycoses (Ribes et al., 2000), were included in the study. All fungal isolates were collected from clinical sources. The A. fumigatus and A. flavus strains were isolated in Indian hospitals, and the C. albicans and C. glabrata strains in Hungarian hospitals. These strains were deposited in the Szeged Microbial Collection (SZMC) at the University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary. Eleven C.