Nifedipine administration impairs natural resistance of mice to Salmonella typhimurium.

Administration of Ca2+ channel blockers in cardiac disorders and the central role of Ca2+ in modulating neutrophil functions, prompted us to investigate whether administration of nifedipine to mice would alter their natural resistance to infectious agents like Salmonella typhimurium. Neutrophil chemiluminescence (CL) in response to S. typhimurium was significantly (p less than 0.01) decreased in mice fed with nifedipine (0.015 mg/kg body weight) over a period of six months. Intracellular killing of S. typhimurium by isolated neutrophils also decreased significantly (p less than 0.01) and exponentially with nifedipine administration, representing a 42% fall at six months. In addition the drug administration lowered the survival rate of animals following challenge by a lethal dose of S. typhimurium (LD50 = 1 x 10(4) bacteria/animal). Our data suggest that long term administration of nifedipine lowers the natural resistance of mice to S. typhimurium owing to impaired neutrophil functions.