Delivering macrolide antibiotics to heal a broken heart - And other inflammatory conditions

Drug carriers to deliver macrolide antibiotics, such as azithromycin, show promise as antibacterial agents. Macrolide drug carriers have largely focused on improving the drug stability and pharmacokinet-ics, while reducing adverse reactions and improving antibacterial activity. Recently, macrolides have shown promise in treating inflammatory conditions by promoting a reparative effect and limiting detri-mental pro-inflammatory responses, which shifts the immunologic setpoint from suppression to balance. While macrolide drug carriers have only recently been investigated for their ability to modulate immune responses, the previous strategies that deliver macrolides for antibacterial therapy provide a roadmap for repurposing the macrolide drug carriers for therapeutic interventions targeting inflammatory conditions. This review describes the antibacterial and immunomodulatory activity of macrolides, while assessing the past in vivo evaluation of drug carriers used to deliver macrolides with the intention of presenting a case for increased effort to translate macrolide drug carriers into the clinic.(c) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Drug carriers for macrolide antibiotics show promise in treating inflammatory conditions and have the potential to improve drug stability and reduce adverse reactions.