An antifungal medication, also known as an antimycotic medication, is a pharmaceutical fungicide or fungistatic used to treat and prevent mycosis such as athlete's foot, ringworm, candidiasis (thrush), serious systemic infections such as cryptococcal meningitis, and others. Such drugs are usually obtained by a doctor's prescription, but a few are available over the counter (OTC). The evolution of antifungal resistance is a growing threat to health globally.
Nystatin, sold under the brand name Mycostatin among others, is an antifungal medication. It is used to treat Candida infections of the skin including diaper rash, thrush, esophageal candidiasis, and vaginal yeast infections. It may also be used to prevent candidiasis in those who are at high risk. Nystatin may be used by mouth, in the vagina, or applied to the skin.
Amphotericin B is an antifungal medication used for serious fungal infections and leishmaniasis. The fungal infections it is used to treat include mucormycosis, aspergillosis, blastomycosis, candidiasis, coccidioidomycosis, and cryptococcosis. For certain infections it is given with flucytosine. It is typically given intravenously.
Ergosterol (ergosta-5,7,22-trien-3β-ol) is a mycosterol found in cell membranes of fungi and protozoa, serving many of the same functions that cholesterol serves in animal cells. Because many fungi and protozoa cannot survive without ergosterol, the enzymes that synthesize it have become important targets for drug discovery. In human nutrition, ergosterol is a provitamin form of vitamin D2; exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light causes a chemical reaction that produces vitamin D2.
An antimicrobial is an agent that kills microorganisms (microbicide) or stops their growth. Antimicrobial medicines can be grouped according to the microorganisms they act primarily against. For example, antibiotics are used against bacteria, and antifungals are used against fungi. They can also be classified according to their function. The use of antimicrobial medicines to treat infection is known as antimicrobial chemotherapy, while the use of antimicrobial medicines to prevent infection is known as antimicrobial prophylaxis.
Terbinafine is an antifungal medication used to treat pityriasis versicolor, fungal nail infections, and ringworm including jock itch and athlete's foot. It is either taken by mouth or applied to the skin as a cream or ointment. The cream and ointment should not be used for fungal nail infections.
In chemistry, an ionophore is a chemical species that reversibly binds ions. Many ionophores are lipid-soluble entities that transport ions across the cell membrane. Ionophores catalyze ion transport across hydrophobic membranes, such as liquid polymeric membranes or lipid bilayers found in the living cells or synthetic vesicles (liposomes). Structurally, an ionophore contains a hydrophilic center and a hydrophobic portion that interacts with the membrane.
Tiabendazole, also known as thiabendazole or TBZ and the trade names Mintezol, Tresaderm, and Arbotect, is a preservative, an antifungal agent, and an antiparasitic agent.
Polyene antimycotics, sometimes referred to as polyene antibiotics, are a class of antimicrobial polyene compounds that target fungi. These polyene antimycotics are typically obtained from certain species of Streptomyces bacteria. Previously, polyenes were thought to bind to ergosterol in the fungal cell membrane, weakening it and causing leakage of K+ and Na+ ions, which could contribute to fungal cell death. However, more detailed studies of polyene molecular properties have challenged this model suggesting that polyenes instead bind and extract ergosterol directly from the cellular membrane thus disrupting the many cellular functions ergosterols perform. Amphotericin B, nystatin, and natamycin are examples of polyene antimycotics. They are a subgroup of macrolides.
Lactobacillales are an order of gram-positive, low-GC, acid-tolerant, generally nonsporulating, nonrespiring, either rod-shaped (bacilli) or spherical (cocci) bacteria that share common metabolic and physiological characteristics. These bacteria, usually found in decomposing plants and milk products, produce lactic acid as the major metabolic end product of carbohydrate fermentation, giving them the common name lactic acid bacteria (LAB).
Butenafine, sold under the brand names Lotrimin Ultra, Mentax, and Butop, is a synthetic benzylamine derived antifungal drug.
Echinocandins are a class of antifungal drugs that inhibit the synthesis of β-glucan in the fungal cell wall via noncompetitive inhibition of the enzyme 1,3-β glucan synthase. The class has been dubbed the "penicillin of antifungals," along with the related papulacandins, as their mechanism of action resembles that of penicillin in bacteria. β-glucans are carbohydrate polymers that are cross-linked with other fungal cell wall components, the fungal equivalent to bacterial peptidoglycan. Caspofungin, micafungin, and anidulafungin are semisynthetic echinocandin derivatives with limited clinical use due to their solubility, antifungal spectrum, and pharmacokinetic properties.
Hamycin is a pair polyene antimycotic organic compounds described in India. It is a heptaene antifungal compound rather similar in chemical structure to amphotericin B except that it has an additional aromatic group bonded to the molecule. When pure, hamycin is a yellow, powdered solid. There are two versions of hamycin with very similar chemical structures: hamycin A and hamycin B.
Hachimycin, also known as trichomycin, is a polyene macrolide antibiotic, antiprotozoal, and antifungal derived from streptomyces. It was first described in 1950, and in most research cases have been used for gynecological infections.
Polylysine refers to several types of lysine homopolymers, which may differ from each other in terms of stereochemistry and link position (α/ε). Of these types, only ε-poly-L-lysine is produced naturally.
Clavams are a class of β-lactam antibiotics. These antibiotics are derived from Streptomyces clavuligerus NRRL 3585. This class is divided into the clavulanic acid class and the 5S clavams class. Both groups are the outcomes of the fermentation process produced by Streptomyces spp. Clavulanic acid is a broad-spectrum antibiotic and 5S clavams may have anti-fungal properties. They are similar to penams, but with an oxygen substituted for the sulfur. Thus, they are also known as oxapenams.
Streptomyces natalensis is a bacterial species in the genus Streptomyces.
Streptomyces isolates have yielded the majority of human, animal, and agricultural antibiotics, as well as a number of fundamental chemotherapy medicines. Streptomyces is the largest antibiotic-producing genus of Actinomycetota, producing chemotherapy, antibacterial, antifungal, antiparasitic drugs, and immunosuppressants. Streptomyces isolates are typically initiated with the aerial hyphal formation from the mycelium.
Streptomyces lydicus is a bacterium species from the genus of Streptomyces which has been isolated from soil in the United States. Streptomyces lydicus produces actithiazic acid, natamycin, lydimycin, streptolydigin, and 1-deoxygalactonojirimycin. Streptomyces lydicus can be used as an agent against fungal plant pathogens like Fusarium, Pythium, Phytophthora, Rhizoctonia and Verticillum.
Topical antifungaldrugs are used to treat fungal infections on the skin, scalp, nails, vagina or inside the mouth. These medications come as creams, gels, lotions, ointments, powders, shampoos, tinctures and sprays. Most antifungal drugs induce fungal cell death by destroying the cell wall of the fungus. These drugs inhibit the production of ergosterol, which is a fundamental component of the fungal cell membrane and wall.
