A Rheological Study of Mucus - Antibiotic Interactions

Abstract

Antibiotic therapy is commonly used both during acute exacerbations of bronchitis and prophylactically. Unless the antibiotic is instilled directly into the lung, then the transfer of the drug across the blood-bronchial barrier is a critical step. The maintenance of a homogeneous bactericidal or bacteriostatic concentration in the mucus is dependent upon the ability of the drug to diffuse through the mucus gel. The thickened hypersecretory mucus which is produced during infection may present a barrier to diffusion and this in turn may be affected by the antibiotic itself. Earlier work (Marriott and Kellaway, 1975) has indicated that tetracyclines exert a thickening effect on sputum. In this study we have examined the effect of a wide range of antibiotics on the rheological and mucociliary transport properties of a purified glycoprotein gel (Marriott et al, 1979).