Anti-inflammatory effects of the antibiotics ceftazidime and tobramycin in porcine endotoxin shock: are they really anti-inflammatory?

Goscinski and coworkers [1] investigated whether the biological effects of exogenous endotoxin in a porcine model could be neutralized by tobramycin, and whether tobramycin or ceftazidime is able to modulate the inflammatory response. There was no neutralization of the biological effects of endotoxin in this porcine model. However, Goscinski and colleagues suggest a possible anti-inflammatory effect by both ceftazidime and tobramycin caused by a significantly greater reduction in the IL-6 plasma level response to endotoxin in comparison with the untreated group. No significant difference in peak tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α or in rates of elimination of TNF-α between treatment groups was seen.