SUMMARY
Purpose:
To assess whether subconjunctivally injected fluconazole was effective in experimental Fusarium solani keratomycosis in rabbits.
Methods:
After corticosteroid immuno supression of the rabbit eyes, 20 μ1 of the inoculum, prepared by the spectrophotometric method, were injected into the midcorneal stroma. Three days later, either 300 μ1 subconjuntival fluconazole or placebo injections were initiated and given during four consecutive days. After five days of the first dose, the animals were sacrified and the corneas trephined and immersed in appropriate liquid growth media. Aliquots of 100, 10 and 1 μl were placed in ágar-Sabouraud-dextrose medium plates and the growth of F. solani determined by counting the number of colonies grown in the plates after 5 days.
Results:
Statistical analysis considered the number of colonies in the different dillutions, for each group. There was no statistical significant difference between the fluconazole-treated group and the placebo group.
Conclusion:
The present investigation did not find any significant reduction in the number offungal colonies grown in plates, after administration ofsubconjunctival fluconazole during 4 consecutive days, when compared to the placebo-treated group, in cases of experimentally induced F. solani keratitis in rabbits.
Keywords:
Fluconazole; Mycosis; Keratitis; Fungus; Fusarium