Candida Infections, Causes, Targets, and Resistance Mechanisms: Traditional and Alternative Antifungal Agents

Table 1

Administration routes and pharmacokinetic parameters of representative antifungal agents belonging to the major families of compounds.

Drug family	Drug	Adm. route^a	Pharmacokinetic parameters						References
			Oral bioavailability (%)	𝐶max^b; μg/mL	AUC^c mg·h/L	Protein binding (%)	Half time (h)	Elimination
Azoles	Fluconazole	Oral	>90	0.7	400.0	10–12	27–31	Urine	[35, 37]
	Itraconazole	Oral	>55	1.1	29.2	99.8	21–64	Hepatic	[35, 37]
	Voriconazole	Oral	>90	4.6	20.3	60.0	6	Renal	[35, 37, 38]
	Posaconazole	Oral	>98	7.8	17.0	99.0	15–35	Feces	[35, 39]
Echinocandins	Caspofungin	IV	<5	9.5–12.1	93.5–100.5	96.0	10.6	Urine	[20, 35, 40, 41]
	Micafungin	IV	<5	7.1–10.9	59.9–111.3	99.8	11–17	Feces	[20, 35, 40, 41]
	Anidulafungin	IV	<5	3.4–7.5	44.4–104.5	84.0	18.1–25.6	Feces	[20, 35, 40, 41]
Polyenes	Amphotericin B	IV	<5	1.5–2.1	13–17	>95	6.8–50	Feces	[35, 42]
Nucleoside analogues	Flucytosine	Oral	76–89	80	62	4	3–6	Renal	[31, 35]

aAdm. route indicates administration route; fluconazole, itraconazole, and voriconazole can be administered by both intravenous and oral routes; IV: intravenous; ^b𝐶_max: maximal concentration; ^cAUC: area under the curve.