Influence of iron on growth and on susceptibility to itraconazole in Sporothrix spp.

We evaluated the growth and the susceptibility to oxidative stress of Sporothrix spp., exposed to different iron concentrations in culture medium, and the susceptibility of Sporothrix spp. to itraconazole, alone and in combination with to the iron chelator deferasirox. The results showed that the growth of S. brasiliensis isolates was more affected by iron availability in comparison to S. schenckii, but both fungal species conidia became more prone to oxidative stress when iron was added to culture medium. Conversely, the combination of itraconazole and deferasirox only resulted in synergism against a minority of S. schenckii isolates.