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Recent insights into the mechanisms of antifungal resistance

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Abstract

The incidence of fungal infections has increased in recent years, particularly among immunocompromised individuals. Treatment of invasive fungal infections has been hampered by a limited number of available antifungal agents and both intrinsic and acquired resistance to these agents among many fungal pathogens. Therefore, much interest has focused on elucidating the molecular basis for antifungal resistance. Recent efforts have increased our understanding of this process, including the transcriptional regulation of azole resistance in Candida spp, mechanisms of intrinsic resistance to amphotericin B, and mechanisms of acquired resistance to the new echinocandin class of antifungal agents. This review discusses these and other newly clarified resistance mechanisms, as well as the direction of future antifungal resistance research. Despite these advances, undiscovered resistance determinants exist, and resistance to newer agents likely will continue to emerge.

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  1. Room 304 West Patient Tower, LeBonheur Children’s Medical Center, 50 North Dunlap Street, 38103, Memphis, TN, USA

    P. David Rogers PharmD, PhD

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  1. Katherine S. Barker PhD
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  2. P. David Rogers PharmD, PhD
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Correspondence to P. David Rogers PharmD, PhD.

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Barker, K.S., Rogers, P.D. Recent insights into the mechanisms of antifungal resistance. Curr Infect Dis Rep 8, 449–456 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11908-006-0019-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11908-006-0019-3

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