In vivo effects of fluconazole on lymphocyte subpopulations of the thymus and spleen in mice: Flow cytometry analysis

Abstract

Fluconazole is a triazole compound developed for the therapy of fungal infections, especially for systemic fungal infections. In this study 2.5 and 5.0 mg oral doses of fluconazole per kg of body weight were administered to mice for 3–28 days, followed by lymphocyte phenotyping by flow cytometry analysis on a Becton-Dickinson FACScan. The results show that administration of fluconazole neither reduced body and organ weights nor thymocyte and spleen cell count. In the thymus and spleen the distribution of all the lymphocyte subpopulations studied was unchanged. These results suggest that fluconazole has no in vivo effects on the quantity of lymphocyte subpopulations in mice. The results tend to support the use of fluconazole in immunosuppressed patients.