Tigecycline therapy significantly reduces the concentrations of inflammatory pulmonary cytokines and chemokines in a murine model of Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia

Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2009 Apr;53(4):1546-51. doi: 10.1128/AAC.00979-08. Epub 2009 Jan 12.

Abstract

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is one of the causative agents of atypical community-acquired pneumonia. Tigecycline belongs to a new class of glycylcycline antimicrobials that have activity against a wide range of microorganisms, including in vitro activity against M. pneumoniae. We investigated the effect of tigecycline on microbiologic, histologic, and immunologic indices in a murine model of M. pneumoniae pneumonia. BALB/c mice were inoculated intranasally with M. pneumoniae and treated subcutaneously with tigecycline or placebo for 6 days. Outcome variables included quantitative bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) M. pneumoniae culture, lung histopathologic score (HPS), BAL cytokine and chemokine concentrations (tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF-alpha], gamma interferon [IFN-gamma], interleukin 1beta [IL-1beta], IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12 [p40/p70], granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, MIP-1alpha, MIG, KC, MCP-1, and IP-10). BAL M. pneumoniae concentrations in mice treated with tigecycline (MpTige) tended to be reduced compared with mice treated with placebo (MpPl); however this did not reach statistical significance. The lung HPS was significantly lower, as well as the parenchymal-pneumonia subscore, in the MpTige mice than in the MpPl mice. MpTige mice had significantly lower BAL cytokine concentrations of IL-1beta, IL-12 (p40/p70), IFN-gamma, and TNF-alpha; of the chemokines, MIG, MIP-1alpha, and IP-10 were statistically lower in MpTige mice. While tigecycline treatment demonstrated a modest microbiologic effect, it significantly improved lung histologic inflammation and reduced pulmonary cytokines and chemokines.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Chemokines / analysis*
  • Cytokines / analysis*
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Female
  • Lung / immunology*
  • Lung / pathology
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Minocycline / analogs & derivatives*
  • Minocycline / pharmacokinetics
  • Minocycline / therapeutic use
  • Pneumonia, Mycoplasma / drug therapy*
  • Pneumonia, Mycoplasma / immunology
  • Pneumonia, Mycoplasma / pathology
  • Tigecycline

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Chemokines
  • Cytokines
  • Tigecycline
  • Minocycline