Bactericidal antibiotic treatment induces damaging inflammation via TLR9 sensing of bacterial DNA.

ABSTRACT: The immunologic consequences of using bactericidal versus bacteriostatic antibiotic treatments are unclear. We observed a bacteriostatic (growth halting) treatment was more protective than a bactericidal (bacteria killing) treatment in a murine peritonitis model. To understand this unexpected difference, we compared macrophage responses to bactericidal treated bacteria or bacteriostatic treated bacteria. We found that Gram-negative bacteria treated with bactericidal drugs induced more proinflammatory cytokines than those treated with bacteriostatic agents. Bacterial DNA - released only by bactericidal treatments - exacerbated inflammatory signaling through TLR9. Without TLR9 signaling, the in vivo efficacy of bactericidal drug treatment was rescued. This demonstrates that antibiotics can a

SUBMITTER: Gross JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11605096 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature