Antifungal activity of statins and their interaction with amphotericin B against clinically important Zygomycetes.

The in vitro antifungal activity of different statins and the combinations of the two most effective ones (fluvastatin and rosuvastatin) with amphotericin B were investigated in this study on 6 fungal isolates representing 4 clinically important genera, namely Absidia, Rhizomucor, Rhizopus and Syncephalastrum . The antifungal effects of statins revealed substantial differences. The synthetic statins proved to be more effective than the fungal metabolites. All investigated strains proved to be sensitive to fluvastatin. Fluvastatin and rosuvastatin acted synergistically and additively with amphotericin B in inhibiting the fungal growth in clinically available concentration ranges. Results suggest that statins combined with amphotericin B have a therapeutic potential against fungal infections caused by Zygomycetes species.