Experimental and Clinical Studies of 5-Fluorocytosine Activity in Candida Ocular Infections

In vitro sensitivity to 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC) of 35 Candida strains (14 C. albicans, 10 C. tropicalis, 5 C. parapsilosis, 2 C. guilliermondii, 2 C. krusei, 2 C. pseudotropicalis), isolated from the eyes of patients suffering from various external ocular inflammations who had not been treated with 5-FC, was tested and compared to that of standard Candida species. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal fungicidal concentration (MFC) of 5-FC for the strains isolated from ocular infections ranged from 0.06 to 1.95 mug/ml and from 0.24 to 7.81 mug/ml, respectively, indicating that no primary resistant strains to 5-FC were found in this series.