Interactions Among Subinhibitory Antibiotics, Aerobic Gram-negative Rods, and Human Polymorphonuclear Neutrophils

In the treatment of bacterial infection with antibiotics, drug levels in tissues at the site of infection may be below the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) for the infecting organism [1, 2]. Exposure of bacteria to sub-MIC antibacterial drugs can result in alterations in bacterial morphology [3–5] and proliferation [6, 7] as well as changes in sensitivity of the organisms to serum [8, 9].