Prophylactic use of liposomized tuftsin enhances the susceptibility of Candida albicans to fluconazole in leukopenic mice

In the present study, we investigated the immunopotentiating activity of the immunomodulator tuftsin for the treatment of dose-dependent susceptible Candida albicans infection in a murine model. Our results demonstrated that tuftsin increases the susceptibility of C. albicans to phagocytosis by activating murine macrophages. Fluconazole used for the treatment of mice infected with C. albicans showed less in vivo efficacy and proved to be ineffective in the elimination of the infection from leukopenic mice even at higher doses. However, the antifungal activity of fluconazole against the same isolate of C. albicans significantly increased in tuftsin-pretreated mice and resulted in an improved survival rate in mice. The treated mice also showed less severity of infection as supported by a reduced fungal burden in their kidneys. This study indicates that the use of immunopotentiating substances can enhance the therapeutic efficacy of azole antifungal agents and thus can effectively combat azole-resistant fungal pathogens under conditions of immunosuppression.