Potent Antiedematous and Protective Effects of Ciprofloxacin in Pulmonary Ricinosis.

Abstract

The plant toxin ricin is considered a biological threat agent of concern and is most toxic when inhaled. Pulmonary exposure to a lethal dose of ricin can be redressed by treatment with antiricin antibodies; however, late antitoxin intervention is of limited efficacy. This limitation is associated with overt lung damage, clinically manifested as severe pulmonary inflammation, which develops over time. Increased evidence indicates that ciprofloxacin, a broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent, possesses immunomodulatory properties. Here we demonstrate that while antiricin antibody administration at late hours after intranasal exposure to ricin confers limited protection to mice, highly efficient protection can be achieved by adding ciprofloxacin to the antibody treatment. We further demonstrate that parameters associated with lung injury, in particular, pulmonary proinflammatory cytokine production, neutrophil migration, and edema, are sharply reduced in ricin-intoxicated mice that were treated with ciprofloxacin. The presented data highlight the potential clinical application of ciprofloxacin as a beneficial immunomodulatory agent in the course of ricin intoxication.

• Authors: Yoav Gal, Anita Sapoznikov, Reut Falach, Sharon Ehrlich, Moshe Aftalion, Tamar Sabo, Chanoch Kronman
• Journal: Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy (Antimicrob Agents Chemother) Vol. 60 Issue 12 Pg. 7153-7158 (12 2016) ISSN: 1098-6596 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 27645243 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2016, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Chemical References

• Antitoxins
• Cytokines
• Immunologic Factors
• Ciprofloxacin
• Ricin

Topics

• Administration, Intranasal
• Animals
• Antitoxins (pharmacology)
• Ciprofloxacin (pharmacology)
• Cytokines (metabolism)
• Female
• Immunologic Factors (pharmacology)
• Mice, Inbred Strains
• Neutrophil Infiltration (drug effects)
• Pneumonia (chemically induced, drug therapy, metabolism, mortality)
• Ricin (administration & dosage, immunology, toxicity)