Allergy/ Immunology

Over the past 10-15 years, the number of clinically available antifungal agents has increased substantially, due to rise in the number of invasive fungal infections, which are a real problem for specialists. Echinocandins are the new class of antifungal agents available for clinical use. This class comprises over 20 natural echinocandins and several semisynthetic ones. Natural echinocandins are not of clinical utility due to their toxicity and low water-solubility (which does not allow obtaining parenteral pharmaceutical forms), although they have good antifungal activity against Candida species...

BACKGROUND: The study randomly screened leaf extracts of several hundred southern African tree species against important microbial pathogens to determine which taxa have the highest activity and may yield useful products to treat infections in the animal health market. METHODS: We determined the antibacterial and antifungal activity of 714 acetone leaf extracts of 537 different tree species against Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans and Cryptococcus neoformans...

INTRODUCTION: The complicated etiology of chronic sinusitis with polyps and frequent allergy to mould is established. AIM: We aimed to investigate the frequency of the IgE-dependent hypersensitivity in this group of patients and prove the need of surgery in allergic chronic rhinosinusitis patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Forty-two patients (19 females, 23 males) aged 34-73 years (55 ±12.6 years), with chronic sinusitis with polyps were included into the study...