Review article
Anti-inflammatory effect of antibiotics
Alemka Markotić
; Klinika za infektivne bolesti "Dr. Fran Mihaljević"
Lidija Cvetko-Krajinović
; Klinika za infektivne bolesti "Dr. Fran Mihaljević"
Abstract
When Alexander Fleming discovered the first antibiotic, penicillin, he did not know how to isolate pure penicillin, nor could he have imagined how this discovery would change the world and medicine one day, particularly how it would affect the development of infectious diseases. When analyzing the mechanism of action of antibiotics, we are almost totally focused on their direct effect on the target microorganism. We tend to completely ignore their other potential effects, such as immunomodulation, which may not only have impact in the fight against certain bacteria, but can potentially lead to new guidelines for treating infectious diseases caused by other pathogens, and possibly some immunological disorders. In this paper we will briefly describe one important form of immunomodulation, anti-inflammatory effect of antibiotics. The paper provides an overview of known anti-inflammatory features of three groups of antibiotics that so far showed the strongest anti-inflammatory effect: macrolides, quinolones and tetracyclines. Immunomodulation caused by antibiotics is still an undiscovered and exciting area of medicine, both for scientists and clinicians and especially for the pharmaceutical industry. An important prerequisite for the development of this discipline are modern multiplex laboratory technologies that can help us realize and understand at least part of the complexity of immune reactions responsible in the complex process of immunomodulation. In this paper, we present a summary of multiplex laboratory technologies used in basic research of immunomodulatory properties of antibiotics, that could find their application in determining immunomodulatory effect of antibiotics in the treatment of infectious diseases by monitoring specific immune parameters, and possibly in some autoinflammatory syndromes.
Keywords
antibiotics; inflammation; immunomodulation; multiplex laboratory technology
Hrčak ID:
66765
URI
Publication date:
31.3.2011.
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