Antibodies Reduce Side Effects of Antibiotics in the Lungs

Pneumonia

Antibiotics can weaken the defense system of the lungs and increase the risk of pneumonia, researchers have shown. Antibodies, however, seem to reduce the risk.

BERLIN. Researchers have shown that antibiotics can weaken the lung defense system, reducing the risk of pneumonia
Pseudomonas aeruginosa increases, reports Charity Berlin. The results suggest that this risk can be reduced by the delivery of antibodies (J Clin Investig 2018, online July 16).

Professor Bastian Opitz of Charity and his research team investigated the mechanisms that Pseudomonas infections after antibiotic treatments promote. They have been able to show that the antibiotic disruption of the bacterial flora results in a reduction in the production of IgA antibodies in the lungs.

These IgA antibodies are known to be important immune defenses against infections. Antibiotics weaken the defense system of the lungs and facilitate the infection of the lungs by Pseudomonas bacteria. This effect has also been demonstrated in an intensive care unit observation study.

The team has already succeeded in reducing the susceptibility to Pseudomonas lung infection with IgA antibodies specially prepared in the animal model. "We want to better understand the influence of antibiotics on the natural bacterial flora and how it affects the defense mechanisms of the body and especially the lungs," Opitz said in the message. "And we want to study how and in what form IgA antibodies can be used preventively as well as therapeutically." (eb)

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