Ciprofloxacin enhances T cell function by modulating interleukin activities.

Ciprofloxacin (CIP) is a quinolone carboxylic acid derivative with a broad spectrum of antibacterial activity. CIP (0.1-30 micrograms/ml) enhanced DNA synthesis of mouse spleen cells and human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) that had been activated with T cell mitogens or with alloantigens. In addition, CIP increased the amount of IL-2 found in the supernatants of phytohaemagglutinin (PHA)-stimulated human PBL. The presence of CIP in the medium (0.3-10 micrograms/ml) increased the levels of IL-1 found in the culture supernatants of adherence-enriched mouse macrophages, human monocyte/macrophages and a human monocytic cell line stimulated with lipopolysaccharide. In contrast there was no effect of CIP on the release of IL-1 by freshly isolated human monocytes or by cells of the keratinocyte line, A431. CIP alone had no influence on the basal release of IL-2 by NOB-1 cells, a T cell line that responds to IL-1 with an increase in IL-2 synthesis, but, in combination with recombinant IL-1, CIP significantly enhanced the release of IL-2 by these cells. The results of this study suggest that CIP modulates the immune response at two levels--the production of IL-2 by activated T cells and the production of IL-1 by activated monocyte/macrophages. However, CIP did not affect the primary antibody response in vitro or in vivo against sheep erythrocytes and ovalbumin respectively. Thus the enhancing action of ciprofloxacin on the immune system appears to be restricted to T cell function and macrophage/T cell interactions.