Effect of Ukrain preparation on immune response in mice affected by influenza virus

I. CIEBIADA¹ - E. KORCZAK¹ - A. DENYS¹ - J.W. NOWICKY²

¹ Department of Microbiology, Military Medical Academy. Lodz. Poland
² Ukrainian Anti-Cancer Institute, Vienna, Austria
Correspondence: Dr. I. Ciebiada, Department of Microbiology. Military Medical Academy, PI. J. Hallera 1, 90647 Lodz. Poland

INTRODUCTION

The preparation Ukrain is a semi-synthetic substance containing alkaloids of Chelidonium majus, which has been used in the therapy of neoplastic diseases. It has been shown that the preparation acts in a selective way on neoplastic cells without influencing normal cells. Ukrain has not been demonstrated to be toxic and is well tolerated by patients.

Experimental and clinical studies have indicated that one of the mechanisms of antineoplastic action of the above preparation may be connected with the stimulation or modulation of the immune system. Trials aiming to assess the effectiveness of this preparation in virus infections have been undertaken in infections caused by influenza as well as HIV viruses. We evaluated the effectiveness of Ukrain on prevention and healing of infections caused by influenza viruses in mice. Because of our encouraging results as measured by survival rate, we also evaluated some parameters of the immune response.