ABSTRACT
SS750 [(
R
)-(−)-2-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-1-(ethylsulfonyl)-1,1-difluoro-3-(1
H
-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)-2-propanol] is a new triazole, and its potential as an antifungal agent was evaluated by in vitro and in vivo studies. In a comparison of the MICs at which 50% of isolates are inhibited (MIC
50
s) for all strains of
Candida
species and
Cryptococcus neoformans
tested, SS750 was four times or more active than fluconazole and had activity comparable to that of itraconazole. The most important advantage of SS750 was that, when the MIC
90
s were compared, SS750 had 64 and 32 times greater antifungal activities than fluconazole against
Candida krusei
and
Candida glabrata
, respectively, which are intrinsically less susceptible to fluconazole. In cyclophosphamide-immunosuppressed mouse models of systemic and pulmonary candidiasis caused by
C. albicans
, oral SS750 prolonged the number of days of survival of infected animals in a dose-dependent manner and was 4 and ≥64 times more potent than fluconazole and itraconazole, respectively. In a safety profile, SS750, like fluconazole, had less of an affinity for binding to mammalian cytochrome P450 compared with that of ketoconazole, despite its strong affinity for binding to fungal cytochrome P450. The mechanism for the increased in vitro antifungal activity of SS750 against
C. krusei
is partially due to the potent inhibitory activity (3.7 times versus that of fluconazole) of
C. krusei
cytochrome P450 sterol 14α-demethylase; SS750 showed a strong affinity for binding to cytochrome P450 of
C. krusei
, indicating that SS750 acts by inhibiting the cytochrome P450 sterol 14α-demethylase of fungal cells.
