title: Potent Antiedematous and Protective Effects of Ciprofloxacin in Pulmonary Ricinosis.
abstract: The plant toxin ricin is considered a biological threat agent of concern and is most toxic when inhaled. Pulmonary exposure to a lethal dose of ricin can be redressed by treatment with antiricin antibodies; however, late antitoxin intervention is of limited efficacy. This limitation is associated with overt lung damage, clinically manifested as severe pulmonary inflammation, which develops over time. Increased evidence indicates that ciprofloxacin, a broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent, possesses immunomodulatory properties. Here we demonstrate that while antiricin antibody administration at late hours after intranasal exposure to ricin confers limited protection to mice, highly efficient protection can be achieved by adding ciprofloxacin to the antibody treatment. We further demonstrate that parameters associated with lung injury, in particular, pulmonary proinflammatory cytokine production, neutrophil migration, and edema, are sharply reduced in ricin-intoxicated mice that were treated with ciprofloxacin. The presented data highlight the potential clinical application of ciprofloxacin as a beneficial immunomodulatory agent in the course of ricin intoxication.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Israel Institute for Biological Research, Ness-Ziona, Israel.
authors.forename: Yoav
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gal
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Israel Institute for Biological Research, Ness-Ziona, Israel.
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sapoznikov
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Israel Institute for Biological Research, Ness-Ziona, Israel.
authors.forename: Reut
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Falach
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Israel Institute for Biological Research, Ness-Ziona, Israel.
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ehrlich
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Israel Institute for Biological Research, Ness-Ziona, Israel.
authors.forename: Moshe
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aftalion
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Israel Institute for Biological Research, Ness-Ziona, Israel tamars@iibr.gov.il.
authors.forename: Tamar
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sabo
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Israel Institute for Biological Research, Ness-Ziona, Israel.
authors.forename: Chanoch
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kronman
mesh_terms: D000281:Administration, Intranasal; D000818:Animals; D000992:Antitoxins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002939:Ciprofloxacin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D007155:Immunologic Factors / Q000494:pharmacology; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D020556:Neutrophil Infiltration / Q000187:drug effects; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality; D012276:Ricin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D000992:Antitoxins; D016207:Cytokines; D007155:Immunologic Factors; D002939:Ciprofloxacin; D012276:Ricin