Serial studies of leukocyte chemiluminescence: lack of effect of macrolide antibiotic therapy.

Antibiotics which affect protein synthesis have been reported to alter in vitro function of polymorphonuclear neutrophil leukocytes (PMNs). We studied chemiluminescence of PMNs from 30 healthy adults during phagocytosis of opsonized zymosan. Similar chemiluminescence values were obtained before, during, and after oral therapy with erythromycin, rosaramicin, or placebo. While macrolide antibiotic therapy did not alter this PMN function, we conclude that chemiluminescence is a reproducible technique which is well suited for serial evaluation of PMN activity.