title: Increase of cellular hypoxic tolerance by erythromycin and other antibiotics.
abstract: Antibiotics are used extensively, but in addition to their anti-infectious effects some inhibit cellular energy metabolism. We investigated hypoxic tolerance following in vivo pretreatment with erythromycin and kanamycin, or in vitro pretreatment with ampicillin. Recovery of the CA1 population spike amplitude in hippocampal slices upon 15 min hypoxia improved time-dependently following single i.p. in vivo pretreatment with erythromycin (maximum at 6 h: recovery 90+/-7% (mean s.d.) vs 30% in untreated controls; p<0.01). The hypoxia-induced increase in NADH was smaller in slices that recovered from hypoxia. We conclude that antibiotics increase cellular hypoxic tolerance to a varying extent. Use of antibiotics in experimental studies may, therefore, distort conclusions about hypoxic sensitivity and confounding mechanisms. In contrast, antibiotics may provide an effective strategy to induce chemical preconditioning in humans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Huber
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kasischke
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Ludolph
authors.forename: M W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Riepe
mesh_terms: D000667:Ampicillin / Q000494:pharmacology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015687:Cell Hypoxia / Q000187:drug effects*; D019610:Cytoprotection; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; D004917:Erythromycin / Q000494:pharmacology; D005470:Fluorometry; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000098:blood supply / Q000187:drug effects*; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007612:Kanamycin / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D009243:NAD / Q000032:analysis; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D009243:NAD; D007612:Kanamycin; D004917:Erythromycin; D000667:Ampicillin