Macrolides and community-acquired pneumonia: is quorum sensing the key?

Crit Care. 2010 Jul 20;14(4):181

Authors: Wise MP, Williams DW, Lewis MA, Frost PJ

ABSTRACT: Combination therapy with two antimicrobial agents is superior to monotherapy in severe community-acquired pneumonia, and recent data suggest that addition of a macrolide as the second antibiotic might be superior to other combinations. This observation requires confirmation in a randomised control trial, but this group of antibiotics have pleiotropic effects that extend beyond bacterial killing. Macrolides inhibit bacterial cell-to-cell communication or quorum sensing, which not only might be an important mechanism of action for these drugs in severe infections but may also provide a novel target for the development of new anti-infective drugs.

PMID: 20663182 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Link to Abstract at PubMed