Antibiotics modulate the ability of neutrophils to release neutrophil extracellular traps

Abstract

Antibiotics directly inhibit the growth and kill microorganisms, and many of them have immunomodulatory properties. We investigated the influence of cefotaxime and gentamicin on the release of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) recently described strategy employed by neutrophils to fight infections. We found that gentamicin inhibits NETs release by human neutrophils, while cefotaxime did not have any impact on this process. The information that antibiotics can modulate NETs release, can be useful in the therapy of infectious diseases in patients suffering from NET-related diseases.