The effects of some antibiotics on nitric oxide synthesis by human macrophages

Abstract

The present study was carried out to determine the effects of ampicillin, ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, isoniazid, rifampicin, streptomycin and ethambutol on the nitric oxide (NO) synthesis by human macrophages. Human macrophages were obtained by Ficoll-Hypaque density gradient method and after dispersing into the 96-well plate (104 macrophages per well), 1 ?g/ml ampicillin, 0.250 ?g/ml ofloxacin, 0.06 ?g/ml ciprofloxacin, 1 ?g/ml isoniazid, 1 ?g/ml rifampicin, 2 ?g/ml streptomycin and 2 ?g/ml ethambutol were added to each well. The nitrite levels in the culture supernatants were measured by Griess reagent at 3rd, 6th and 24th hours. As a result the nitrite levels were found to be significantly increased in the well containing isoniazid, ampicillin, ofloxacilin, streptomycin and ethambutol.