Effects of Low-Dose and Long-Term Treatment with Erythromycin on Interleukin-17 and Interleukin-23 in Peripheral Blood and Induced Sputum in Patients with Stable Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Figure 2

The effects of erythromycin treatment on the concentrations (pg/mL) of IL-17 and IL-23 in sputum from patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at baseline and after 3, 6, 9, and 12 months of treatment. Erythromycin significantly decreased the levels of IL-17 in the sputum after 6, 9, and 12 months of treatment in group A (all values < .001) and after 6 months in group B () compared to the placebo-treated group. A similar change was observed in IL-23 in patient sputum after 6, 9, and 12 months (all values < .001) in group A and after 6 months of treatment () in group B compared to the placebo-treated group. Nine and 12 months after erythromycin was discontinued in group B, both IL-17 ( and , resp.) and IL-23 ( and , resp.) in sputum showed no differences compared to the placebo-treated group.

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