[Effect of erythromycin on neutrophil adhesion molecules]

The mechanisms of erythromycin (EM) in chronic lower respiratory tract diseases including diffuse panbronchiolitis (DPB) has been reported. In this study we investigated the effect of EM on peripheral neutrophil adhesion molecules such as LFA-1 and Mac-1 obtained from six healthy subjects. Pretreatment of neutrophils with each concentration (10 ng/ml approximately 100 micrograms/ml) of EM resulted in no significant reduction in the expression of LFA-1 alpha, beta and Mac-1. Moreover, EM had no capability of reducing these expressions even when neutrophils were pretreated with 1 microgram/ml of EM at time from 0 to 60 min. These findings indicate that EM does not directly reduce the expression of LFA-1 alpha, beta and Mac-1 on peripheral neutrophil obtained from healthy subjects.