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Anidulafungin
- indication:For use in the treatment of the following fungal infections: Candidemia and other forms of <i>Candida</i> infections (intra-abdominal abscess, and peritonitis) and esophageal candidiasis. Also considered an alternative treatment for oropharyngeal canaidiasis.
- pharmacologypharmacology:
- mechanism: Anidulafungin is a semi-synthetic echinocandin with antifungal activity. Anidulafungin inhibits glucan synthase, an enzyme present in fungal, but not mammalian cells. This results in inhibition of the formation of 1,3-&beta;-D-glucan, an essential component of the fungal cell wall, ultimately leading to osmotic instability and cell death.
- toxicity: During clinical trials a single 400 mg dose of anidulafungin was inadvertently administered as a loading dose. No clinical adverse events were reported. The maximum non-lethal dose of anidulafungin in rats was 50 mg/kg, a dose which is equivalent to 10 times the recommended daily dose for esophageal candidiasis (50mg/day).
- absorprion:
- halflife: 40-50 hours
- roouteelimination: Less than 1% of the administered radioactive dose was excreted in the urine. Anidulafungin is not hepatically metabolized.
- volumedistribution: * 30 to 50 L
- clearance: * 1 L/h