STIMULATION OF INTERLEUKIN 1 AND TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR PRODUCTION BY ORAL ERYTHROMYCIN

• Published in: CHEMOTHERAPY Vol. 39; no. 4; pp. 320 - 328
• Main Authors: Katahira, Jun'ichi, Haruki, Kosuke, Shibata, Yusuke, Kikuchi, Ken, Hasegawa, Hiromi, Totuska, Kyoichi, Shimizu, Kihachiro, Kawada, Hiroshi, Takizawa, Takao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: Japanese Society of Chemotherapy 1991
• ISSN: 0009-3165; 1884-5894
• DOI: 10.11250/chemotherapy1953.39.320

Erythromycin is known to have various immunological activities in addition to its antimicrobial action. We investigated the effects of oral erythromycin on the production of interleukin-1 (IL-1), tumor necrosis factor (TN F) and interferon-γ(IFN γ) by alveolar macrophages and/or peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Five normal healthy volunteers were given orally 600 mg of erythromycin daily for five days, and their alveolar macrophages were incubated for 48 hours. The mean level of IL-1α in the erythromycin-treated group (3, 748μg/ml) was higher, although not significantly, than that in the control group (1, 355μg/ml). The mean levels of IL-1β and TNF in the erythromycin group were also increased. The degree of increase, however, differed with the individual subject. In a similar experiment, the levels of IL-1α, IL-1β and TNF increased after ingestion of erythromycin, and decreased 7 days after the cessation of erythromycin treatment. The levels of IFNγ, however, decreased after erythromycin ingestion. Next, we investigated the production of cytokines by peripheral blood mononuclear cells before and after erythromycin ingestion in 11 volunteers. The production of IL-1α and TNF was stimulated by erythromycin in most of the subjects. The mean levels of these cytokines also increased after erythromycin treatment, particularly when mononuclear cells were incubated with phytohemagglutinin or IFNγ. The production of IFNγ after erythromycin ingestion, however, was lower than before. The changes in level of the three cytokines were linked in each individual. These results suggest that erythromycin stimulates the production of IL-1 and TNF but inhibits IFNγ.