Non-antibiotic effects of antibiotics: from side effects to therapeutic uses

Sometimes therapeutic needs to tap drugs side effects of a treatment to show new indications for those drugs. Antibiotics, which are somewhat some often-used drugs, are frequently prescribed in non-infectious pathologies. Some indications are reported in the literature: immunosuppressive or antiinflammatory (disulone, salazopyrine, cotrimoxazole, clofazimine, fusidique acid), small bowel prokinetic action (macrolides), endocrine effects (déméclocycline, kétoconazole), enzymatic effects (rifampicine, cyclines), sclerotherapy (cyclines), pro- or anti-tumoral effects. This incomplete list is growing up every days.