Treatment of murine coccidioidal meningitis with fluconazole (UK 49,858)

Male ICR mice were challenged intracerebrally with endospores of Coccidioides immitis and then treated with water (control), fluconazole, amphotericin B (Fungizone®), or ketoconazole (Nizoral®). All three drugs markedly prolonged survival, and all three drugs lowered brain colony counts of C. immitis. Survival of mice treated orally with fluconazole at the high dose was longer than in the ketoconazole treated group. Amphotericin B was more efficacious than fluconazole. Further investigations are needed to determine the efficacy of fluconazole in treatment of coccidioidal meningitis.