Introduction to Clinical Mycology

Use of Cycloheximide

February 2012

Cycloheximide is a compound that is used primarily only in culturing. It is not an antibiotic for any treatment of any disease at all. But it allows for one to prevent the overgrowth of slowly growing molds by others that grow more rapidly. And we deal with certain things like the dimorphic fungi that grow, some for the most part, slower than things like Aspergillus or some of the other fungi. And, cycloheximide partially inhibits the growth of those rapidly growing molds so that we can pick up and see the growth of slower growing molds that are known pathogens. The dimorphic fungi are primarily the ones that we are trying to recover, and prevent the rapid overgrowth of rapidly growing molds, and cycloheximide allows us to do that. However, there is a problem using cycloheximide. That is that certain of the pathogenic fungi may be inhibited by cycloheximide, and it is necessary to use a medium that lacks that compound along with it.

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Use of Cycloheximide

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• Introduction
• Introduction to Clinical Mycology
• Culture Variation of Cryptococcus neoformans–Medium Dependent
• Enhancement Supplements for Fungal Recovery Media
• Use of Cycloheximide
• Cycloheximide: Fungi Inhibited
• Aspergillus fumigatus
• Effect of Cycloheximide–Aspergillus niger
• Culture of Coccidioides immitis on a Medium with Cycloheximide
• Treatment of Contaminated Specimens
• Typical Overgrowth of Culture Plate
• Culture of Blastomyces dermatitidis After Ammonium Hydroxide Treatment
• Use of Culture Dishes: Advantages and Disadvantages
• Use of Culture Dishes: Dehydration of Media
• Use of Tubes for Culture: Advantages and Disadvantages
• Use of Culture Tubes
• Incubation of Cultures
• Culture Incubation
• Culture Examination
• Sealing of Culture Dish to Prevent Contamination
• Mitey Big Problem
• Introduction to Clinical Mycology
• Questions