Erythromycin and related macrolide antibiotics have recently enjoyed a resurgence of clinical interest. This is a result of activity against organisms which are becoming more prevalent, particularly in immunocompromised hosts and, in addition, better understanding of the unique tissue penetration properties and potential immunomodulating properties of macrolides. Other features of clinical inte...

Macrolide antibiotics are well known for their antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. This article provides an overview of the biological mechanisms through which macrolides exert this 'double effect'. Their antibacterial effect consists of the inhibition of bacterial protein synthesis, impaired bacterial biofilm synthesis, and the attenuation of other bacterial virulence factors. Apar...

The anti-rickettsial activity of azithromycin and clarithromycin was studied in Vero cells. The rate of rickettsial inhibition-growth caused by both macrolides was determined using rickettsial counts and ELISA. Both macrolides inhibited > 50% the growth of Rickettsia conorii and Rickettsia typhi at concentrations of 1.0 and 0.1 mg/L, respectively. The growth of Coxiella burnetii was inhibited t...

Cryptogenic organizing pneumonia (COP) is an idiopathic interstitial pneumonia characterized by a subacute course and favorable prognosis with corticosteroids. However, some patients show resistance to steroids. Macrolides have been used with success in those patients showing resistance to steroids. A few reports showed treatment failure with macrolides in patients with COP who were resistant t...

Tumini M., Nagel O.G., Molina M.P., Althaus R.L. (2016): Microbiological method using Bacillus megaterium with fusidic acid for detection of macrolides in milk. Czech J. Food Sci., 34: 9–15. The microbiological method to attain a sensitive detection of macrolides using Bacillus megaterium in agar medium with fusidic acid was designed. To this aim, Mueller-Hinton medium fortified with glucose at...

The anti-Pneumocystis carinii activity of atovaquone, dapsone and sulphamethoxazole alone and combined with dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) inhibitors and macrolides was investigated against five clinical isolates of P. carinii. The susceptibility tests were performed by inoculation of the organisms on to cell monolayer and parasite count after 72 h incubation at 37 degrees C. Culture plates wer...

Clostridium difficile is one of the most common causes of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea. Despite C. difficile infection (CDI) has increased in all ages worldwide, episodes of CDI are often misdiagnosed due to the lack of clinical suspicion. Macrolides are also associated with CDI. Additionally, exposure to macrolides in the 12 weeks preceding infection is reported to be a significant risk fac...

BACKGROUND With the emergence of macrolide resistance, concerns about the efficacy of macrolides for the treatment of Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) pneumonia in children have been raised. This study aimed to determine the effect of macrolide resistance on the outcome of children who were hospitalized with MP pneumonia. METHODS Between 2010 and 2015, we performed culture of MP from nasopharyngeal...

The ion transfer of a series of ionised 14and 15-membered macrolide compounds across polarised water/nitrobenzene have been studied by cyclic voltammetry. Fourteen-membered macrolides transfer as singly-charged molecules in the wide pH range, while 15-membered macrolides can transfer as both singly and doubly protonated cations, depending on the pH of the aqueous solution. The results showed th...

This study focused on the presence and distribution of 22 antibiotics, including eight quinolones, nine sulfonamides and five macrolides in mollusks from the Bohai Sea of China. 190 samples of eleven species were collected in 2006, 2007 and 2009. Laboratory analyses revealed that antibiotics were widely distributed in the mollusks with quinolones as the major compounds with concentrations of 0....