Sterol-complexing agents interfere with polyene activity

Sterol-complexing agents interfere with polyene activity 

Polyene absorption by fungal membranes can be inhibited by agents with a high affinity for sterols, e.g. digitonin [161—164]. Digitonin also releases bound polyenes from membranes. 

Sterols are not the only conceivable membrane constituent which have been reported to antagonise polyenes or inhibit polyene binding. Similar effects have also been reported for oleic acid, linoleic acid, vitamin A, and lecithins [162, 165-169]. Such compounds may compete with sterol in the cell membrane for available polyene molecules or more likely bind to the cell surface, and there they either interact with the polyene antibiotic or mask sterol molecules in the membrane, thereby reducing the number of binding sites. It has been shown that 

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