Antibiotics and Hydroxychloroquine in Crohn's

There is growing evidence that Crohn\'s disease may be caused by replication of bacteria, perhaps particularly E. coli, within macrophages (a specialized sort of white blood cell). Laboratory studies show that a combination of antibiotics that can penetrate macrophages (such as ciprofloxacin and doxycycline) together with the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine (which makes the contents of macrophage vesicles more alkaline and helps them to kill intracellular bacteria) is particularly effective at killing the E. coli within macrophages.