In vivo efficacy of liposomal amphotericin b against wild-Type and azole-resistant aspergillus fumigatus isolates in two different immunosuppression models of invasive aspergillosis

Using an immunocompetent murine model of invasive aspergillosis (IA), we previously reported that the efficacy of liposomal amphotericin B (L-AmB) (Ambisome) is not hampered by the presence of azole resistance mutations in Aspergillus fumigatus (S. Seyedmousavi, W. J. G. Melchers, J. W. Mouton, and P. E. Verweij, Antimicrob Agents Chemother 57:1866 -1871, 2013, https://doi.org/10.1128/AAC.02226 -12). We here investigated the role of immune suppression, i.e., neutropenia and steroid treatment, in L-AmB efficacy in mice infected with wild-Type (WT) A. fumigatus and with azole-resistant A. fumigatus harboring a TR34/L98H mutation in the CYP-51A gene. Survival of treated animals at day 14 in both immunosuppressed models was significantly better than that of nontreated controls. A dose-response relationship was observed that was independent of the azole-resistant mechanism and the immunosuppression method used. In the neutropenic model, 100% survival was reached at an L-AmB dose of 16 mg/kg of body weight for the WT strain and the TR34/L98H isolate. In the steroid-Treated group, 90.9% survival and 100% survival were achieved for the WT isolate and the TR34/L98H isolate with an L-AmB dose of 16 mg/kg, respectively. The 50% effective dose (ED50) was 1.40 mg/kg (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.66 to 3.00 mg/kg) for the WT isolate and 1.92 mg/kg (95% CI, 0.60 to 6.17 mg/kg) for the TR34/L98H isolate in the neutropenic model and was 2.40 mg/kg (95% CI, 1.93 to 2.97 mg/kg) for the WT isolate and 2.56 mg/kg (95% CI, 1.43 to 4.56 mg/kg) for the TR34/L98H isolate in the steroid-Treated group. Overall, there were no significant differences between the two different immunosuppressed conditions in the efficacy of L-AmB against the wild-Type and azole-resistant isolates (P > 0.9). However, the required L-AmB exposure was significantly higher than that seen in the immunocompetent model.

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