Stimulatory effect of cefodizime on macrophage-mediated phagocytosis.

We evaluated the ingestion of anti-sheep erythrocyte (anti-E) IgG- and IgM-coated sheep erythrocytes by murine peritoneal macrophages exposed to cefodizime, a new semisynthetic cephalosporin, and other antibiotics. Cefodizime enhanced the ingestion of anti-E IgG-coated erythrocytes by peritoneal macrophages from CD-1 and BALB/c mice in a dose-dependent manner, but had no effect on uncoated or IgM-coated erythrocytes. Similar enhancement was observed only in the case of cefpimizole (AC-1370), among the other antibiotics examined. These results suggest that the favorable in vivo activity of cefodizime and cefpimizole may result from their phagocytosis-enhancing as well as antimicrobial properties.