The negligible effects of the antifungal natamycin on cholesterol-dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine monolayers may explain its low oral and topical toxicity for mammals.

Natamycin is an effective, broad spectrum antifungal with no reported resistance, in contrast to most antimicrobials. It also exhibits reduced (oral and topical) toxicity to humans, which is probably associated with the lack of effects on mammalian cell membranes. In this paper we employ Langmuir monolayers to mimic a cell membrane, whose properties are interrogated with various techniques.