The effects of amphotericin B and fluconazole on the extracellular and intracellular growth of Candida albicans were studied. With respect to the extracellular growth of C. albicans, antifungal activity was measured in terms of MICs and minimal fungicidal concentrations as well as by determination of the concentration that effectively killed (>99.9%) C. albicans in the absence or presence (amphotericin B only) of serum. Amphotericin B was highly active in terms of killing, even at an increased inoculum size. In the presence of serum, amphotericin B activity was substantially reduced. For fluconazole, activity was restricted to inhibition of fungal growth, even after the inoculum size was reduced. With respect to the intracellular growth of C. albicans, antifungal activity was measured by using monolayers of murine peritoneal macrophages infected with C. albicans and was measured in terms of inhibition of germ tube formation as well'as effective killing (>99%) of C. albicans. Amphotericin B was highly active against C. albicans. At an increased ratio of infection, amphotericin B activity was slightly reduced. Fluconazole had no antifungal activity. Neither a reduction in the ratio of infection nor exposure of C. albicans to fluconaz'ole prior to macrophage ingestion resulted in activity against intracellular C. albicans by fluconazole. Previous exposure of C. albicans to amphotericin B resulted in increased intracellular activity of amphotericin B. The. intracellular antifungal activity of the combination of fluconazole with amphotericin B was les than that of amphotericin B alone. Amphotericin B showed fungicidal activity against C. albicans growing both extracellularly and intracellularly, whereas fluconazole inhibited growth only of extracellular C. albicans. A slight antagonistic effect between fluconazole and aiflphotericin B was found with respect to intracellular as well as extracellular C. albicans.Deep-seated candidal infections are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients (15,21,22). The current drug of choice for most systemic mycoses is still amphotericin B (AmB), but its use is restricted by a variety of toxic side effects (6,13,15,21,22). Consequently, there is a need for effective and less toxic drugs for the treatment of patients with these infections. One of these antifungal agents is the triazole fluconazole (Flu) (4,10,14,33,34,41). In vivo experimental studies suggested that Flu is active against disseminated candidiasis (8,9,29,31,32,35,37). Recently, the antifungal efficacy of Flu was demonstrated in persistently granulocytopenic rabbits when it was used for prevention or early treatment (39,40). Little is still known, however, on the role of Flu in the treatment of systemic candidiasis in immunocompromised patients. Since the host defense mechanisms in these patients are severely impaired, the intrinsic antifungal activity of the antifungal agent is of great importance for effective treatment. Unfortunately, standardized in vitro methods for assessment of ...