Overcoming amphotericin B resistance in Candida auris using the antiemetic drug rolapitant

ABSTRACT The emergence of Candida auris poses a significant health challenge that has led to a new era of multidrug-resistant fungal infections. Invasive infections caused by C. auris are usually associated with remarkable morbidity and mortality. For many years, amphotericin B (AmB) remained the most efficient and the last line of treatment against most hard-to-treat fungal infections. However, strains of C. auris possess extraordinary resistance to most antifungal agents, including AmB. In this study, we screened ~2,600 FDA-approved drugs and clinical compounds to identify the antiemetic drug rolapitant as a promising enhancer to AmB against C. auris . Rolapitant exhibited potent synergistic interactions with AmB against all tested (29/29) C. auris isolates. In a time-kill assay, rolapitant restored the fungicidal activity of AmB within 4 h. Additionally, the synergistic relationship between rolapitant and AmB was observed against other medically crucial Candida , Cryptococcus, and Aspergillus species. A transcriptomic study revealed that exposure to rolapitant affects oxidation reduction processes, ion transporters, and ATP production. Rolapitant triggers an elevation in cytosolic and mitochondrial calcium levels and induces oxidative stress within fungal cells. An ATP luminescence assay confirmed that rolapitant, at sub-inhibitory concentrations, significantly interfered with ATP production in C. auris . Moreover, rolapitant enhanced the in vivo activity of AmB in a mouse model of disseminated C. auris infection, as the combination reduced the fungal burden in murine kidneys by ~1 log (~90%) colony forming units. Our findings warrant further investigation of using rolapitant to overcome AmB resistance in C. auris and other fungal species.