Interaction between saquinavir and antimycotic drugs on C. albicans and C. neoformans strains.

Candidiasis and cryptococcosis are the most common fungal diseases among patients suffering from HIV infection. In the present work we assess whether the combined therapies, proteinase inhibitors and antimycotic drugs, could modify the therapeutic effect of antimycotics. An in vitro study to evaluate the antifungal effect of saquinavir and antimycotic drugs combination on yeast growth was performed.

Selectivity of action of glycyrrhizin derivatives on the growth of MCF-7 and HEP-2 cells.

Since 1986, there have been reports in the literature that glycyrrhizin (GL), 18 alpha-glycyrrhetinic acid (18 alpha-GA) and 18 beta-glycyrrhetinic acid (18 beta-GA) can inhibit the growth of some murine tumours. Recently, testing the activity of GL and 18 alpha-GA on human tumour cells, we observed that both substances are good anti-proliferative agents, especially on those cells whose replication rate is slow. In the present study, the MTT test was performed on MCF-7, Hep-2 and VERO cells treated with increasing concentrations of GL and of its derivatives.

'In vitro' study of chemotherapeutic activity of sulphimidazole on some sensitive and metronidazole-resistant Trichomonas vaginalis strains.

Trichomonacidal treatment based on 5-nitroimidazoles is problematic both when Metronidazole, the drug of choice, is ineffective owing to the presence of resistant strains and when bacterial aerobic infections are present. Sulphimidazole (SIZ) possesses two distinct functional groups: one sulphonamide, the other 5-nitroimidazole. Since SIZ is active against aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, we set out to discover whether, in view of the presence of the 5-nitroimidazole group, it could also be effective against Trichomonas vaginalis.