Antibiotics and the host-parasite relationship (a short review).
The last twenty years have witnessed an increasing interest in the concomitant action that an antibiotic may have on cells other than its primary target, the bacterial or fungal cell. It is now recognized that some may exert direct immunomodulatory effects (positive and negative) on cells of the host's immune response (polymorphonuclear neutrophils, macrophages and T lymphocytes). Others may concentrate within phagocytic cells, remain bioactive therein and be transported involuntarily to sites of infection. In addition, there is evidence that a number of antibiotics, primarily those which act by inhibition of bacterial protein synthesis, interfere with the expression of structural virulence factors rendering the producer bacteria more or less susceptible to phagocytic ingestion and killing. It remains likely that some of all of these activities may occur in vivo during therapy.
Gemmell
C G
CG
Department of Bacteriology, University of Glasgow, Medical School, Royal Infirmary, Scotland.
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000096:biosynthesis; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D001770:Blood Bactericidal Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D002633:Chemotaxis / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D010587:Phagocytosis / Q000187:drug effects; D016897:Respiratory Burst / Q000187:drug effects; D017334:Teicoplanin / Q000494:pharmacology
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D017334:Teicoplanin