Effect of roxithromycin on peripheral neutrophil adhesion molecules in patients with chronic lower respiratory tract disease

To evaluate the effects of roxithromycinin patients with chronic lower respiratory tractdisease including diffuse panbronchiolitis, we studied lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1(LFA-1) and Mac-1, neutrophiladhesion molecules, using peripheral neutrophilsfrom healthy volunteers and from patients with chronic lower respiratory tractdisease. The number of Mac-1 expressed on neutrophilsof the patients was significantly greater (0.68 ± 0.16) than in the healthy subjects (0.45 ± 0.14), while the number of LFA-1 expressed on neutrophilsof the patients was nearly similar to that in the healthy volunteers (0.95 ± 0.10 vs. 0.89 ± 0.11). The neutrophilnumbers in bronchoalveolar lavagefluid and the number of Mac-1 expressed on peripheral neutrophilssignificantly decreased in all patients who responded clinically to a low dose of roxithromycinfor a long period of time (56.0 ± 25.2 vs. 22.7 ± 19.7%, p < 0.05 and 0.70 ± 0.16 vs. 0.59 ± 0.08, p < 0.05, respectively), whereas roxithromycinhad no effect on the quantitative expression of LFA-1 (0.96 ± 0.14 to 1.00 ± 0.09, not significant) in all responders.