Abstract:

Although much is known today about the mode of action of antibiotics on microorganisms, relatively little has been done to evaluate the possible collaboration between antibiotics and the host defenses in the containment and elimination of pathogens from host tissues. Since certain antibiotics are known to interfere with the biosynthesis of bacterial cellular and extracellular components, it is conceivable that such modified bacterial cells may be more readily intercepted, killed, and eventually digested by professional phagocytes. On the other hand, certain antibiotics may have adverse effects on mammalian cells by interfering with their normal metabolism and subsequently with their antimicrobial functions. Although the role of bacteriolysis in host and parasite interrelationships has been recognized for over a decade, this field of research has surprisingly been almost totally neglected. The importance of understanding the mechanisms of biodegradation of microbial cells in vivo stems from the recognition that the inability of the enzymes of the host to degrade the rigid cell wall of microorganisms is a contributory factor to the formation of chronic granulomatous responses, and to the destruction of tissues [1, 6, 16, 17, 22, 30]. Thus, any antibiotics which will collaborate with leukocytes or with serum factors in the elimination of bacterial constitutents from infected tissues may greatly contribute to the well-being of the individual.