Host immune modulation by antimicrobial drugs: current knowledge and implications for antimicrobial chemotherapy

•Antimicrobials act against microorganisms and may modify host immune functions.•We evaluated the antimicrobials effects on PMN primary functions against pathogens.•All the antimicrobial agents tested are capable of modulating human PMN activities.•The depressed response of immune-compromised patient PMNs is restored by the drugs.•Host immune modulation by antimicrobials contributes to infection disease resolution.

It is known that antimicrobial agents possess several, beneficial, secondary properties which complement their primary antimicrobial activity like the immunomodulatory capacity that enforces host defense mechanisms or reduces host inflammatory response. In this review the current state of our recent research about the interaction between some antimicrobial agents and the immune system as complex pyramid of redundant cellular factors, humoral effectors and mediators against various microbial pathogens, will be presented and compared with recent literature data. The nature of such interactions is diverse and depends on the drug, the host immunological status and the microorganism. A more complete understanding of the host immune modulation by antimicrobial drugs may guide the selection of appropriate regimens for given clinical situations.