Naftifine hydrochloride

OBJECTIVE: ;Naftifine HCl 2% cream (NAFT-2%) is a topical allylamine antifungal preparation under development in the U.S. The objective of this randomized, double-blind, vehicle-controlled study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a two-week course of once-daily NAFT-2% vs. vehicle in the treatment of Tinea cruris ("jock itch").;METHODS: ;A total of 334 subjects with T. cruris were enrolled and randomly assigned to NAFT-2% (n=166) or vehicle (n=168), which was applied once daily for 14 days. Efficacy and safety were evaluated at week 2 (end of treatment) and week 4. Efficacy measures included complete cure, treatment effectiveness, mycological cure, clinical cure, and clinical success and were analyzed only in subjects with a positive potassium hydroxide (KOH) and dermatophyte culture at baseline (n=75, naftifine; n=71, vehicle). Safety was assessed by adverse events and changes from baseline in clinical status and laboratory studies.;RESULTS: ;At week 4, 25 percent of naftifine-treated subjects achieved complete cure vs. three percent of vehicle subjects and 72 percent achieved mycological cure vs. 16 percent of vehicle treated subjects (one-sided, P<0.001). Treatment effectiveness was achieved in 60 percent of NAFT-2% subjects vs.

Viability of 40 Candida spp. cultures was studied after long-term exposure to antifungal drugs in minimum inhibitory concentrations. The fungicidal effect decreased in the series: pimafucin-nitrofungin-diflucan-orungal-levorine-clotrimazole-exoderil. Nizoral in a concentration of 4 microg/ml was ineffective; in the rest cultures the effect was either fungistatic (of different degree) or null. Pimafucin, diflucan, nitrofungin, orungal, levorine, and exoderil possessed individual fungicidal effects.

Rhodotorula mucilaginosa was isolated from a patient with onychomycosis, and identification was confirmed by morphological and cultural characteristics as well as by DNA molecular analysis. Antifungal agents naftifine (10 mg/mL, active substance in Exoderil) and bifonazole (10 mg/mL, active substance in Canespor) were tested in different concentrations to assess in vitro effects on fungal growth and carotenoid synthesis. The antifungal mechanisms of action of naftifine and bifonazole against R. mucilaginosa isolates were similar and affected the biosynthetic pathway of ergosterol. For the first time, this research demonstrates that naftifine affects the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway, producing depigmentation of R. mucilaginosa in solid and liquid media. Furthermore, depigmentation was a reversible process; naftifine-treated yeast cells that were depigmented resumed carotenoid production upon transfer to fresh media. Raman and UV-vis spectrophotometry in conjunction with chromatographic analysis detected changes in carotenoids in yeast cells, with torulene decreasing and B-carotene increasing after repigmentation. Transmission electron micrographs revealed critical ultrastructural modifications in the depigmented cells after naftifine treatment, i.