The effect of amphotericin B, aztreonam, imipenem and cephalosporins on the bone marrow progenitor cell activity

The effects of certain antibiotics on the colony forming activity of human bone marrow cells in semisolid methylcellulose medium in vitro and on murine BM cells in spleen colony forming units (cfu-s) in vivo were evaluated. Amikacin, gentamicin, piperacillin, co-trimoxazole and pentamidine had little or no effect on human bone marrow progenitor cell function; amphotericin B, aztreonam, ceftazidime and imipenem caused significant suppression of human colony forming unit-erythroid (cfu-e), burst forming unit-erythroid (bfu-e) and colony forming unit-granulocyte macrophage (cfu-gm) at both peak and trough serum concentrations. At molar equivalent concentrations ceftazidime, cefotaxime and cefoperazone caused significant decreases in human cfu-e, bfu-e and cfu-gm in vitro (P less than 0.01) and murine cfu-s in vivo (P less than 0.05); cefoxitin, cefuroxime, ceftizoxime and ceftriaxone did not suppress human bone marrow progenitor cell activity. Gentamicin, piperacillin and ceftriaxone had no effect on murine cfu-s formation. Further studies to evaluate the effect of these antibiotics on human bone marrow in vivo are suggested.