Used in the treatment of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia by enhancing the production of neutrophils. Pegfilgrastim acts on hematopoietic cells by binding to specific cell surface receptors thereby stimulating proliferation, differentiation, commitment, and end cell functional activation. Pefloxacin is thought to be broken down into amino acids similarly to endogenous proteins. Pefloxacin binds to the G-CSF receptor. As a G-CSF analog, it controls proliferation of committed progenitor cells and influences their maturation into mature neutrophils. Pegfilgrastim also stimulates the release of neutrophils from bone marrow storage pools and reduces their maturation time. Pegfilgrastim acts to increase the phagocytic activity of mature neutrophils. In patients receiving cytotoxic chemotherapy, pegfilgrastim can accelerate neutrophil recovery, leading to a reduction in duration of the neutropenic phase. |