Failure of Griseofulvin to Control Experimental Systemic Mycoses in Mice

Introduction  Since Gentles' discovery¹ that griseofulvin, an antibiotic isolated from Penicillium griseofulvum and studied 19 years before,² was effective in shortening the severity and duration of experimental dermatophytosis in guinea pigs, this therapeutic agent has had remarkably prompt, thorough, and eminently successful clinical trials. It is an ideal specific treatment for dermatophytosis because it is nontoxic at therapeutic doses, is administered orally, and it accumulates in fungistatic concentrations in the keratinized tissues which are attacked by the dermatophytes.³ Although griseofulvin is less active in vitro against the fungi which cause systemic mycoses than against the dermatophytes, tests of its therapeutic effect upon experimental systemic mycoses were obviously indicated.

Materials and Methods  General purpose, female, Swiss, white mice weighing 17-20 gm. were infected by injection into a tail vein of cell or spore suspensions of fungi, using the type of mouse holder designed by Feber⁴ in this