Treatment of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia with 1,3-beta-glucan synthesis inhibitors.

Abstract

Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia is a major cause of death in AIDS patients in the United States. The presently available treatments have limited use due to a high incidence of adverse reactions. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a safer method for treatment and prevention of this disease. Recent evidence has suggested that P. carinii is related to fungi and that the wall of the cyst form contains 1,3-beta-glucan as a major constituent. Based on this, several proposed 1,3-beta-glucan synthesis inhibitors were evaluated for their ability to control P. carinii pneumonia in vivo. Compounds from two classes of 1,3-beta-glucan synthesis inhibitors, the echinocandins and papulacandins, were found to be effective against P. carinii.

• Authors: D M Schmatz, M A Romancheck, L A Pittarelli, R E Schwartz, R A Fromtling, K H Nollstadt, F L Vanmiddlesworth, K E Wilson, M J Turner
• Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A) Vol. 87 Issue 15 Pg. 5950-4 (Aug 1990) ISSN: 0027-8424 [Print] United States
• PMID: 2198575 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Anti-Bacterial Agents
• Antifungal Agents
• Echinocandins
• Glucans
• Peptides
• Peptides, Cyclic
• Pyrans
• pneumocandin A(0)
• L 687781
• Trimethoprim
• Sulfamethoxazole

Topics

• Animals
• Anti-Bacterial Agents
• Antifungal Agents (pharmacology)
• Candida albicans (drug effects)
• Disease Models, Animal
• Echinocandins
• Glucans (antagonists & inhibitors, biosynthesis)
• Lung (microbiology, pathology)
• Male
• Peptides
• Peptides, Cyclic (pharmacology, therapeutic use)
• Pneumocystis (drug effects, isolation & purification)
• Pneumonia, Pneumocystis (drug therapy, pathology)
• Pyrans (poisoning, therapeutic use)
• Rats
• Rats, Inbred Strains
• Sulfamethoxazole (pharmacology, therapeutic use)
• Trimethoprim (pharmacology, therapeutic use)