Glycopeptide Antibiotics Impair Neutrophil Effector Functions

Introduction: Neutrophilic granulocytes represent the first line of defense against microorganisms. Granulocytes phagocytose microorganisms and specifically synthesize oxygen radicals against them, which eventually kills the invaders.

Methods: Neutrophilic granulocytes were isolated from peripheral blood of healthy volunteer donors. Putative interference of new-generation antibiotics with neutrophil function was tested using a collection of granulocyte-stimulating agents and Amplex™ Red-based plate assay and flow cytometry-based respiratory burst assays. In addition, phagocytosis of E. coli, IL-8 production, bactericidal activity, and CD62L expression of granulocytes were evaluated.

Results: Of note, we found that the two glycopeptide antibiotics dalbavancin and teicoplanin inhibited ROS production upon granulocyte activation via different signaling pathways in a dose-dependent manner. Dalbavancin also blocked the PMA-induced shedding of CD62L. In contrast, the oxazolidinone antibiotics tedizolid and linezolid had no effect on neutrophil function, while the combination of ceftazidime/avibactam dose dependently inhibited the fMLP/Cytochalasin B-induced granulocyte burst in a dose-dependent manner. Additionally, we showed that dalbavancin and teicoplanin as well as sulfametrole/trimethoprim and ceftazidime/avibactam inhibited baseline and PMA-induced IL-8 production by neutrophilic granulocytes. Moreover, dalbavancin impaired the bactericidal activity of neutrophilic granulocytes.

Conclusion: We here identified hitherto unknown inhibitory effects of several classes of antibiotics on the effector functions of neutrophilic granulocytes.