title: Antitumor effect of erythromycin in mice.
abstract: Oral administration of erythromycin in the dose range of 1-10 mg/kg increased the survival times of tumor-bearing mice in both allogeneic and syngeneic mouse systems by two- to three-fold as compared with those of vehicle control mice, with the maximum effect at a dose of 5 mg/kg/day. During the early phase of tumor transplantation, tumoricidal macrophages and natural killer cells were active in the antitumor resistance of erythromycin-treated mice. Thereafter, the tumoricidal activity of macrophages became stronger as serum levels of interleukin-4 (IL-4) rose. Furthermore, treatment of mice with anti-IL-4 monoclonal antibody abolished the antitumor resistance conferred by erythromycin. These results indicate that erythromycin exhibits an indirect antineoplastic activity by enhancing the production of IL-4 which augments the tumoricidal activity of macrophages.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine II, Nara Medical University, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hamada
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kita
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sawaki
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mikasa
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Narita
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000818:Animals; D002286:Carcinoma, Ehrlich Tumor / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D003601:Cytotoxicity Tests, Immunologic; D004917:Erythromycin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000097:blood / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007941:Leukemia P388 / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D008264:Macrophages / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D009368:Neoplasm Transplantation; D010529:Peritoneal Cavity / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D015847:Interleukin-4; D004917:Erythromycin