Abstract
Subminimal inhibitory concentrations (subMICs) of antibiotics may induce changes in bacterial morphology, ultrastructure, biochemistry and in multiplication rate [15,19,21,22,23,26,31,36]. SubMICs of antibiotics may also increase susceptibility to phagocytosis and intracellular killing [8,9,30], or affect the ability of bacteria to adhere to epithelial cells [1,34]. Considering that the morphological and structural changes produced by subMICs of antibiotics are different from those induced by ≧ MICs, Lorian [19] postulated that the biochemical changes responsible for them must also be significantly different. It should, therefore, be expected that bacteria exposed to subMICs of antibiotics show also alterations in antigen expression with changes in their pathogenicity and the related immune response.
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