ArticlePloS one2018
Azithromycin therapy reduces cardiac inflammation and mitigates adverse cardiac remodeling after myocardial infarction: Potential therapeutic targets in ischemic heart disease.
Article in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 48 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparative Effectiveness of Anti-Inflammatory Drug Treatments in Coronary Heart Disease Patients: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.Mediators of inflammation · 2021Pooled it
- Complosome Activation after Myocardial Infarction in a Murine Model of Permanent LAD Ligation.Stem cell reviews and reports · 2026Article
- Systematic development and optimization of a microfluidic formulation protocol for liposomal azithromycin.RSC pharmaceutics · 2026Article
- Cardiovascular benefits and safety profile of macrolide maintenance therapy in patients with bronchiectasis.The European respiratory journal · 2025Article
- Progress in macrophage immune regulation of atherosclerosis.American journal of translational research · 2025Review
- Inflamed Skin, Burdened Heart: A Multidisciplinary Perspective on Atopic Dermatitis and Cardiovascular Health.Clinical, cosmetic and investigational dermatology · 2025Review
- Azithromycin Exposure in a 10-Day Window of Myocardial Infarction and Short- and Long-Term Outcomes.JACC. Advances · 2024Article
- Intercellular model predicts mechanisms of inflammation-fibrosis coupling after myocardial infarction.The Journal of physiology · 2023Article
- Effects of a water-soluble formulation of tylvalosin on disease caused by porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus alone in sows or in combination with Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae in piglets.BMC veterinary research · 2023Article
- Delivering macrolide antibiotics to heal a broken heart - And other inflammatory conditions.Advanced drug delivery reviews · 2022Review
- Optimization and Characterization of a Liposomal Azithromycin Formulation for Alternative Macrophage Activation.Frontiers in drug delivery · 2022Article
- The immunomodulatory effects of macrolide antibiotics in respiratory disease.Pulmonary pharmacology & therapeutics · 2021Review
- Adult spiny mice (Acomys) exhibit endogenous cardiac recovery in response to myocardial infarction.NPJ Regenerative medicine · 2021Article
- Management of inflammation in cardiovascular diseases.Pharmacological research · 2021Review
- Review
- Immunomodulatory Effects of Azithromycin Revisited: Potential Applications to COVID-19.Frontiers in immunology · 2021Review
- Baicalin regulates macrophages polarization and alleviates myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion injury via inhibiting JAK/STAT pathway.Pharmaceutical biology · 2020Article
- Monocyte recruitment and fate specification after myocardial infarction.American journal of physiology. Cell physiology · 2020Review
- Liposomal delivery of azithromycin enhances its immunotherapeutic efficacy and reduces toxicity in myocardial infarction.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Carnosic acid protects against pressure overload-induced cardiac remodelling by inhibiting the AKT/GSK3β/NOX4 signalling pathway.Experimental and therapeutic medicine · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
introductionAcute myocardial infarction (MI) is a primary cause of worldwide morbidity and mortality. Macrophages are fundamental components of post-MI inflammation. Pro-inflammatory macrophages can lead to adverse cardiac remodeling and heart failure while anti-inflammatory/reparative macrophages enhance tissue healing. Shifting the balance between pro-inflammatory and reparative macrophages post-MI is a novel therapeutic strategy. Azithromycin (AZM), a commonly used macrolide antibiotic, polarizes macrophages towards the anti-inflammatory phenotype, as shown in animal and human studies. We hypothesized that AZM modulates post-MI inflammation and improves cardiac recovery. METHODS AND
resultsMale WT mice (C57BL/6, 6-8 weeks old) were treated with either oral AZM (160 mg/kg/day) or vehicle (control) starting 3 days prior to MI and continued to day 7 post-MI. We observed a significant reduction in mortality with AZM therapy. AZM-treated mice showed a significant decrease in pro-inflammatory (CD45+/Ly6G-/F4-80+/CD86+) and increase in anti-inflammatory (CD45+/Ly6G-/F4-80+/CD206+) macrophages, decreasing the pro-inflammatory/anti-inflammatory macrophage ratio in the heart and peripheral blood as assessed by flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry. Macrophage changes were associated with a significant decline in pro- and increase in anti-inflammatory cytokines. Mechanistic studies confirmed the ability of AZM to shift macrophage response towards an anti-inflammatory state under hypoxia/reperfusion stress. Additionally, AZM treatment was associated with a distinct decrease in neutrophil count due to apoptosis, a known signal for shifting macrophages towards the anti-inflammatory phenotype. Finally, AZM treatment improved cardiac recovery, scar size, and angiogenesis.
conclusionAzithromycin plays a cardioprotective role in the early phase post-MI through attenuating inflammation and enhancing cardiac recovery. Post-MI treatment and human translational studies are warranted to examine the therapeutic applications of AZM.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.