Clotrimazole for Vulvovaginal Candidosis: More Than 45 Years of Clinical Experience
1
German Center for Infections in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Heusnerstrasse 40, D-42283 Wuppertal, Germany
2
Bayer Consumer Care AG, Peter Merian-Strasse 84, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Pharmaceuticals 2020, 13(10), 274; https://doi.org/10.3390/ph13100274
Received: 1 September 2020 / Revised: 22 September 2020 / Accepted: 23 September 2020 / Published: 25 September 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Antifungal Development: Discovery of New Drugs and Drug Repurposing)
Vulvovaginal candidosis is a common disease, and various treatment strategies have emerged over the last few decades. Clotrimazole belongs to the drugs of choice for the treatment of vulvovaginal candidosis. Although available for almost 50 years, systematic reviews on the usefulness of topical clotrimazole across disease severity and populations affected are scarce. Thus, we conducted a systematic literature search in the PubMed and Embase databases to summarize the effectiveness and safety of topical clotrimazole in the treatment of uncomplicated (acute) and complicated vulvovaginal candidosis. In total, 37 randomized controlled studies in women suffering from vaginal yeast infections qualified for inclusion in our review. In women with uncomplicated vulvovaginal candidosis, single intravaginal doses of clotrimazole 500 mg vaginal tablets provided high cure rates and were as effective as oral azoles. A single dose of clotrimazole 500 mg was equipotent to multiple doses of lower dose strengths. Prolonged treatment regimens proved to be effective in severe and recurrent cases as well as in symptomatic pregnant women. It is therefore expected that in the general population, clotrimazole will continue to be widely used in the field of vaginal health in the upcoming years; more so as clotrimazole resistance in vaginal candidosis is rare.
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Keywords:
canesten; clotrimazole; vulvovaginal; vaginitis; mycosis; candidosis; yeast infection; candida; candida albicans; vaginal health
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MDPI and ACS Style
Mendling, W.; Atef El Shazly, M.; Zhang, L. Clotrimazole for Vulvovaginal Candidosis: More Than 45 Years of Clinical Experience. Pharmaceuticals 2020, 13, 274. https://doi.org/10.3390/ph13100274
AMA Style
Mendling W, Atef El Shazly M, Zhang L. Clotrimazole for Vulvovaginal Candidosis: More Than 45 Years of Clinical Experience. Pharmaceuticals. 2020; 13(10):274. https://doi.org/10.3390/ph13100274
Chicago/Turabian StyleMendling, Werner; Atef El Shazly, Maged; Zhang, Lei. 2020. "Clotrimazole for Vulvovaginal Candidosis: More Than 45 Years of Clinical Experience" Pharmaceuticals 13, no. 10: 274. https://doi.org/10.3390/ph13100274
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