Penetration, retention, intracellular localization, and antimicrobial activity of antibiotics within phagocytes

The deficiency in cell-mediated immunity that is the hallmark of AIDS has led to a resurgence of infections with tubercle bacilli and other intracellular pathogens, and to renewed attention to the mechanisms by which antibiotics penetrate and are retained within phagocytic leukocytes. We review here recent studies of these mechanisms and the activity of different classes of antibiotics against microbial pathogens growing within or ingested by neutrophils and mononuclear phagocytes.