From bench to bedside: bacterial growth and cytokines

The recognition that neutrophils, macrophages, and other components of the inflammatory cascade participate in the generation and progression of acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome has resulted in the use of anti-inflammatory agents in an attempt to attenuate this inflammatory response and to prevent further progression of the acute lung injury. The recent finding that cytokines, in part mediators of this ‘overwhelming’ inflammatory reaction, may also stimulate bacterial growth, impair bacterial clearance, and promote the subsequent development of nosocomial infections may have important implications to the management of the acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome patient.