[Alteration of IgE production by cefadroxil]

The effect of two cephalosporins, cefadroxil and cefalexine, was in vitro studied by using two models of regulation of the IgE production in healthy humans, e.g. the induction of CD23-antigens on B-cells and the IgE synthesis in cell culture supernatants after stimulation by recombinant interleukin-4. Cefadroxil clearly inhibited CD23 membrane expression on normal human B-lymphocytes. In the same way, this cephalosporin blocked up to 90% of the in vitro interleukin-4-dependent IgE production by normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Cefalexine was unable to do the same. There results suggest that cefadroxil interplays with the regulation processes of the IgE production in humans.