The differential attachment of antibiotics to glycoprotein and blood lymphocytes

SYNOPSIS The differential attraction in vitro of antibiotics to blood lymphocytes and salivary glycoprotein was studied in an attempt to determine the distribution of antibiotics in sputum. Results from studies in vivo on sputum antibiotic levels are also presented. Purulent sputum is a complex mixture of glyco-protein, pus cells, bacteria, and their degradative products. Saggers and Lawson (1969) have shown that bacteria pathogenic in the respiratory tract have an affinity for glycoprotein, and the work of May and Delves (1965) and of Saggers and Lawson (1968) indicates that antibiotics are not randomly distributed within this complex mix-ture. It is hoped from the knowledge obtained from our later experiments, together with the results on the affinity of bacteria for glyco-protein, that a more specific antibiotic therapy for respiratory infections will be evolved