Stored microorganisms were cultured on subcultured on Sabouraud's
dextrose agar (Nippon Becton Dickinson) at 35 C for
approximately 24 h. Inoculum suspensions of about 1 106 to
5 106 CFU/ml in 0.85% sterile physiological saline were prepared
using a 0.5 McFarland standard, and diluted 50-fold with RPMI-
1640/MOPS, it was further diluted 20-fold to prepare an inoculum
size of 1 103 to 5 103 CFU/ml.