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Published on: January 1, 2016
Macrolides and community-acquired pneumonia: is quorum sensing the key?
Matt P Wise1, David W Williams, Michael A O Lewis
1Adult Critical Care, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff CF14 4XW, UK. mattwise@doctors.org.uk
Abstract:
Combination therapy with two antimicrobial agents is superior to monotherapy in severe community-acquired pneumonia, and recent data suggest that addition of a macrolide as the second antibiotic might be superior to other combinations. This observation requires confirmation in a randomised control trial, but this group of antibiotics have pleiotropic effects that extend beyond bacterial killing. Macrolides inhibit bacterial cell-to-cell communication or quorum sensing, which not only might be an important mechanism of action for these drugs in severe infections but may also provide a novel target for the development of new anti-infective drugs.
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