This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Pfaller, M. A. Articles by Diekema, D. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Pfaller, M. A. Articles by Diekema, D. J.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 2006, p. 3533-3538, Vol. 44, No. 10
0095-1137/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.00872-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Global Surveillance of In Vitro Activity of Micafungin against Candida: a Comparison with Caspofungin by CLSI-Recommended Methods

Departments of Pathology,¹ Epidemiology,² Medicine, Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and College of Public Health, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242³

Received 25 April 2006/ Returned for modification 31 May 2006/ Accepted 11 July 2006

Micafungin is an echinocandin antifungal agent that has recently been approved for the prevention of invasive fungal infection and the treatment of esophageal candidiasis. Prospective sentinel surveillance for the emergence of in vitro resistance to micafungin among invasive Candida sp. isolates is indicated. We determined the in vitro activity of micafungin against 2,656 invasive (bloodstream or sterile site) unique patient isolates of Candida spp. collected from 60 medical centers worldwide in 2004 and 2005. We performed antifungal susceptibility testing according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) M27-A2 method and used a 24-hour prominent inhibition endpoint for determination of the MIC. Caspofungin was tested in parallel against all isolates. Of 2,656 invasive Candida sp. isolates, species distribution was 55.6% Candida albicans, 14.4% Candida parapsilosis, 13.4% Candida glabrata, 10.1% Candida tropicalis, 2.4% Candida krusei, 1.7% Candida guilliermondii, 0.9% Candida lusitaniae, 0.6% Candida kefyr, and 0.9% other Candida species. Overall, micafungin was very active against Candida (MIC₅₀/MIC at which 90% of the isolates tested are inhibited [MIC₉₀], 0.015/1 µg/ml; 96% inhibited at a MIC of 1 µg/ml, 100% inhibited at a MIC of 2 µg/ml) and comparable to caspofungin (MIC₅₀/MIC₉₀, 0.03/0.25 µg/ml; 99% inhibited at a MIC of 2 µg/ml). Results by species, expressed as MIC₅₀/MIC₉₀ (micrograms per milliliter), were as follows: C. albicans, 0.015/0.03; C. glabrata, 0.015/0.015; C. tropicalis, 0.03/0.06; C. krusei, 0.06/0.12; C. kefyr, 0.06/0.06; C. parapsilosis, 1/2; C. guilliermondii, 0.5/1; C. lusitaniae, 0.12/0.25; other Candida spp., 0.25/1. Although the species distribution varied considerably among the different geographic regions, there was no difference in micafungin activity across the regions. Micafungin has excellent in vitro activity against invasive clinical isolates of Candida from centers worldwide.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Lockhart, S. R., Messer, S. A., Pfaller, M. A., Diekema, D. J. (2008). Geographic Distribution and Antifungal Susceptibility of the Newly Described Species Candida orthopsilosis and Candida metapsilosis in Comparison to the Closely Related Species Candida parapsilosis. J. Clin. Microbiol. 46: 2659-2664 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Pfaller, M. A., Diekema, D. J., Ostrosky-Zeichner, L., Rex, J. H., Alexander, B. D., Andes, D., Brown, S. D., Chaturvedi, V., Ghannoum, M. A., Knapp, C. C., Sheehan, D. J., Walsh, T. J. (2008). Correlation of MIC with Outcome for Candida Species Tested against Caspofungin, Anidulafungin, and Micafungin: Analysis and Proposal for Interpretive MIC Breakpoints. J. Clin. Microbiol. 46: 2620-2629 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Garcia-Effron, G., Katiyar, S. K., Park, S., Edlind, T. D., Perlin, D. S. (2008). A Naturally Occurring Proline-to-Alanine Amino Acid Change in Fks1p in Candida parapsilosis, Candida orthopsilosis, and Candida metapsilosis Accounts for Reduced Echinocandin Susceptibility. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 52: 2305-2312 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Hodgetts, S., Nooney, L., Al-Akeel, R., Curry, A., Awad, S., Matthews, R., Burnie, J. (2008). Efungumab and caspofungin: pre-clinical data supporting synergy. J Antimicrob Chemother 61: 1132-1139 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Serena, C., Marine, M., Quindos, G., Carrillo, A. J., Cano, J. F., Pastor, F. J., Guarro, J. (2008). In Vitro Interactions of Micafungin with Amphotericin B against Clinical Isolates of Candida spp.. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 52: 1529-1532 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Gomez-Lopez, A., Alastruey-Izquierdo, A., Rodriguez, D., Almirante, B., Pahissa, A., Rodriguez-Tudela, J. L., Cuenca-Estrella, M., and the Barcelona Candidemia Project Study Group, (2008). Prevalence and Susceptibility Profile of Candida metapsilosis and Candida orthopsilosis: Results from Population-Based Surveillance of Candidemia in Spain. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 52: 1506-1509 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Pfaller, M. A., Diekema, D. J., Gibbs, D. L., Newell, V. A., Ng, K. P., Colombo, A., Finquelievich, J., Barnes, R., Wadula, J., the Global Antifungal Surveillance Group, (2008). Geographic and Temporal Trends in Isolation and Antifungal Susceptibility of Candida parapsilosis: a Global Assessment from the ARTEMIS DISK Antifungal Surveillance Program, 2001 to 2005. J. Clin. Microbiol. 46: 842-849 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Andes, D., Diekema, D. J., Pfaller, M. A., Prince, R. A., Marchillo, K., Ashbeck, J., Hou, J. (2008). In Vivo Pharmacodynamic Characterization of Anidulafungin in a Neutropenic Murine Candidiasis Model. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 52: 539-550 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Dannaoui, E., Lortholary, O., Raoux, D., Bougnoux, M. E., Galeazzi, G., Lawrence, C., Moissenet, D., Poilane, I., Hoinard, D., Dromer, F., and the YEASTS Group, (2008). Comparative In Vitro Activities of Caspofungin and Micafungin, Determined Using the Method of the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing, against Yeast Isolates Obtained in France in 2005-2006. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 52: 778-781 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Pfaller, M. A., Diekema, D. J., Gibbs, D. L., Newell, V. A., Nagy, E., Dobiasova, S., Rinaldi, M., Barton, R., Veselov, A., the Global Antifungal Surveillance Group, (2008). Candida krusei, a Multidrug-Resistant Opportunistic Fungal Pathogen: Geographic and Temporal Trends from the ARTEMIS DISK Antifungal Surveillance Program, 2001 to 2005. J. Clin. Microbiol. 46: 515-521 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Pfaller, M. A., Boyken, L., Hollis, R. J., Kroeger, J., Messer, S. A., Tendolkar, S., Diekema, D. J. (2008). In Vitro Susceptibility of Invasive Isolates of Candida spp. to Anidulafungin, Caspofungin, and Micafungin: Six Years of Global Surveillance. J. Clin. Microbiol. 46: 150-156 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Kahn, J. N., Garcia-Effron, G., Hsu, M.-J., Park, S., Marr, K. A., Perlin, D. S. (2007). Acquired Echinocandin Resistance in a Candida krusei Isolate Due to Modification of Glucan Synthase. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 51: 1876-1878 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Pfaller, M. A., Diekema, D. J. (2007). Epidemiology of Invasive Candidiasis: a Persistent Public Health Problem. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 20: 133-163 [Abstract] [Full Text]