Clotrimazole, an antifungal drug possessing diverse actions, increases membrane permeation of cadmium in rat thymocytes

Clotrimazole causes membrane depolarization and induces sub G0 cell cycle arrest in Leishmania donovani

Clotrimazole is an FDA approved drug and is widely used as an antifungal agent. An extensive body of research is available about its mechanism of action on various cell types but its mode of killing of Leishmania donovani parasites is unknown. L. donovani causes Visceral Leishmaniasis which is a public health problem with limited treatment options. Its present chemotherapy is expensive, has adverse effects and is plagued with drug resistance issues. In this study we have explored the possibility of repurposing clotrimazole as an antileishmanial drug. We have assessed its efficacy on the parasites and attempted to understand its mode of action. We found that it has a half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 35.75 ± 1.06 μM, 12.75 ± 0.35 μM and 73 ± 1.41 μM in promastigotes, intracellular amastigotes and macrophages, respectively. Clotrimazole is 5.73 times more selective for the intracellular amastigotes as compared to the mammalian cell. Effect of clotrimazole was reduced by ergosterol supplementation. It leads to impaired parasite morphology. It alters plasma membrane permeability and disrupts plasma membrane potential. Mitochondrial function is compromised as is evident from increased ROS generation, depolarized mitochondrial membrane and decreased ATP levels. Cell cycle analysis of clotrimazole treated parasites shows arrest at sub-G0 phase suggesting apoptotic mode of cell death.

Resurgence and Repurposing of Antifungal Azoles by Transition Metal Coordination for Drug Discovery

Coordination compounds featuring one or more antifungal azole (AA) ligands constitute an interesting family of candidate molecules, given their medicinal polyvalence and the viability of drug complexation as a strategy to improve and repurpose available medications. This review reports the work performed in the field of coordination derivatives of AAs synthesized for medical purposes by discussing the corresponding publications and emphasizing the most promising compounds discovered so far. The resulting overview highlights the efficiency of AAs and their metallic species, as well as the potential still lying in this research area.

Ethosomes and ultradeformable liposomes for transdermal delivery of clotrimazole: A comparative assessment

THE OBJECTIVE OF WORK WAS TO FORMULATE, EVALUATE AND COMPARE THE TRANSDERMAL POTENTIAL OF NOVEL VESICULAR NANOCARRIERS: ethosomes and ultradeformable liposomes, containing clotrimazole (CLT), an anti-fungal bioactive. The ethosomal formulation (ET4) and ultradeformable liposomal (UL) formulation (TT3) showed highest entrapment 68.73 ± 1.4% and 55.51 ± 1.7%, optimal nanometric size range 132 ± 9.5 nm and 121 ± 9.7 nm, and smallest polydispersity index 0.027 ± 0.011 and 0.067 ± 0.009, respectively. The formulation ET4 provided enhanced transdermal flux 56.25 ± 5.49 μg/cm(2)/h and decreased the lag time of 0.9 h in comparison to TT3 formulation (50.16 ± 3.84 μg/cm(2)/h; 1.0 h). Skin interaction and FT-IR studies revealed greater penetration enhancing effect of ET4 than TT3 formulation. ET4 formulation also had the highest zone of inhibition (34.6 ± 0.57 mm), in contrast to TT3 formulation (29.6 ± 0.57 mm) and marketed cream formulation (19.0 ± 1.00 mm) against candidal species. Results suggested ethosomes to be the most proficient carrier system for dermal and transdermal delivery of clotrimazole.