Effects of Ribavirin on Neutrophil Function

Ribavirin, a broad spectrum antiviral agent, has been shown to exhibit immunosuppressive activity. This property has raised concerns during clinical trials because candidates for antiviral therapy are those who may develop secondary bacterial infection. We therefore investigated a number of paramete...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American journal of the medical sciences 1988-06, Vol.295 (6), p.503-506
Main Authors: Steele, Russell W., Crosby, David L., Steele, Robert W., Pilkington, Neylon S., Charlton, Ronald K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antibiotics. Antiinfectious agents. Antiparasitic agents
Antiviral agents
Antiviral Therapy
Biological and medical sciences
Blood Bactericidal Activity - drug effects
Cell Adhesion - drug effects
Cell Movement - drug effects
Chemotaxis, Leukocyte - drug effects
Immunosuppression
Immunotherapy
In Vitro Techniques
Luminescent Measurements
Medical sciences
Neutrophils - drug effects
Phagocytosis - drug effects
Pharmacology. Drug treatments
Pneumonia
Ribavirin
Ribavirin - pharmacology
Ribonucleosides - pharmacology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Ribavirin, a broad spectrum antiviral agent, has been shown to exhibit immunosuppressive activity. This property has raised concerns during clinical trials because candidates for antiviral therapy are those who may develop secondary bacterial infection. We therefore investigated a number of parameters of neutrophil function after the in vitro addition of various concentrations of ribavirin. At pharmacologic concentrations (1.25−7.5 μg/mL), percent killing of phagocytized bacteria was increased as measured by an acridine orange fluorochrome microassay, significantly higher at a concentration of 5 μg/mL (p < .02). There was no concomitant adverse effect on adherence, random migration, chemotaxis, opsonization or phagocytosis. The present data indicate that ribavirin has no acute suppressive effect on granulocyte function and may even enhance bacterial killing capabilities for treated patients.
ISSN:0002-9629
1538-2990
DOI:10.1097/00000441-198806000-00002