E. Brougholub et G. Kraal, IN-VIVO STUDY ON THE IMMUNOMODULATING EFFECTS OF OM-85 BV ON SURVIVAL, INFLAMMATORY CELL RECRUITMENT AND BACTERIAL CLEARANCE IN KLEBSIELLA-PNEUMONIA, International journal of immunopharmacology, 19(9-10), 1997, pp. 559-564
Oral administration of the bacterial extract OM-85 BV has been shown t
o prime alveolar macrophages (AM) in such a way that they secrete sign
ificantly more nitric oxide, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleuk
in-1 beta upon in vitro stimulation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). As
increased cytokine secretion by AM may account for the therapeutic eff
ect of OM-85 BV in respiratory tract infections, we studied the effect
of orally administered OM-85 BV on the outcome of Klebsiella pneumoni
ae-induced pneumonia. Mice received a daily oral dose of OM-85 BV (350
mg/kg body weight) for 5 days and were intratracheally infected with
333, 1000 or 3333 CFU K. pneumoniae on day 8. It was shown that OM-85
BV pretreatment of mice has no effect on bacterial clearance, neutroph
il recruitment and survival in this acute respiratory tract infection.
Also, OM-85 BV treatment had no protective effect in a recurrent infe
ction with K. pneumoniae. It is concluded that AM activation by oral t
reatment with OM-85 BV is not sufficient to play a protective role in
respiratory tract infection with K. pneumoniae. (C) 1998 Published by
Elsevier Science Ltd on behalf of the International Society for Immuno
pharmacology.