title: [Macrolides and immunity].
abstract: In order to counteract an ever increasing bacterial resistance, a new trend in antibiotic therapy is to try and obtain compounds with "immunostimulating" properties. Although the macrolides have been known for more than 30 years, their interaction with the host defence system has been poorly investigated. These drugs display an outstanding ability to penetrate and concentrate in phagocytes. Few depressive effects on phagocyte functions have been reported, while some macrolides have been shown to exert an immunostimulating effect in vitro and ex vivo. The data published on this subject are summarized in this review paper. Further studies would be required for a better understanding of structure-immunomodulating activity relationships.
authors.affiliation: INSERM U294, Laboratoire d'hématologie et d'immunologie, CHU Xavier-Bichat, Paris.
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Labro
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000276:immunology; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D007109:Immunity / Q000187:drug effects*; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D010586:Phagocytes / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents
vernacular_title: Macrolides et immunité.