Anti-inflammatory effects of moxifloxacin on activated human monocytic Cells: Inhibition of NF-κB and mitogen-activated protein kinase activation and of synthesis of proinflammatory cytokines

We previously showed that moxifloxacin (MXF) exerts protective anti-inflammatory effects in immunosuppressed mice infected with Candida albicans by inhibiting interleukin-8 (IL-8) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) production in the lung. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated inhibition of nuclear factor (NF)-κB translocation in lung epithelium and macrophages in MXF-treated mice. In the present study we investigated the effects of MXF on the production of proinflammatory cytokines (i.e., IL-8, TNF-α, and IL-1β) by activated human peripheral blood monocytes and THP-1 cells and analyzed the effects of the drug on the major signal transduction pathways associated with inflammation: NF-κB and the mitogen-activated protein kinases ERK and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK). The levels of IL-8, TNF-α, and IL-β secretion rose 20- and 6.7-fold in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated monocytes and THP-1 cells, respectively. MXF (5 to 20 μg/ml) significantly inhibited cytokine production by 14 to 80% and 15 to 73% in monocytes and THP-1 cells, respectively. In THP-1 cells, the level of NF-κB nuclear translocation increased fourfold following stimulation with LPS-phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), and this was inhibited (38%) by 10 μg of MXF per ml. We then assayed the degradation of inhibitor (I)-κB by Western blotting. LPS-PMA induced degradation of I-κB by 73%, while addition of MXF (5 μg/ml) inhibited I-κB degradation by 49%. Activation of ERK1/2 and the 46-kDa p-JNK protein was enhanced by LPS and LPS-PMA and was significantly inhibited by MXF (54 and 42%, respectively, with MXF at 10 μg/ml). We conclude that MXF suppresses the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines in human monocytes and THP-1 cells and that it exerts its anti-inflammatory effects in THP-1 cells by inhibiting NF-κB, ERK and JNK activation. Its anti-inflammatory properties should be further assessed in clinical settings.