Differential effects of fosfomycin and corticosteroid on the molar ratio of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist/interleukin-1β in the culture supernatants of mononuclear phagocytes from patients with sarcoidosis

Abstract

We compared the effects of fosfomycin, an antibiotic reported to possess immunomodulatory activities, and prednisolone on the production of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) and IL-1beta by bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) macrophages obtained from sarcoidosis patients. The molar IL-1ra/IL-1beta ratio in the culture supernatants of BALF macrophages obtained from sarcoidosis patients, which was lower in sarcoidosis patients than in healthy nonsmokers, was significantly increased in the presence of fosfomycin, but decreased by prednisolone. Further, the molar IL-1ra/IL-1beta ratios in the culture supernatants of peripheral blood mononuclear cells isolated from four of five patients after fosfomycin administration for 14 days were higher than the ratios measured before fosfomycin administration. Fosfomycin showed an anti-inflammatory effect in a different way, when compared with that of prednisolone.