Azithromycin therapy reduces cardiac inflammation and mitigates adverse cardiac remodeling after myocardial infarction: Potential therapeutic targets in ischemic heart disease.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Acute myocardial infarction (MI) is a primary cause of worldwide morbidity and mortality. Macrophages are fundamental components of post-MI inflammation. Pro-inflammatory macrophages can lead to adverse cardiac remodeling and heart failure while anti-inflammatory/reparative macrophages enhance tissue healing. Shifting the balance between pro-inflammatory and reparative macrophages post-MI is a novel therapeutic strategy. Azithromycin (AZM), a commonly used macrolide antibiotic, polarizes macrophages towards the anti-inflammatory phenotype, as shown in animal and human studies. We hypothesized that AZM modulates post-MI inflammation and improves cardiac recovery.

Methods and results

Male WT mice (C57BL/6, 6-8 weeks old) were treated with either oral AZM (160 mg/k

SUBMITTER: Al-Darraji A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6042749 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature