THEORETICAL GROUNDS AND EXPERIMENTAL CONFIRMATION OF THE ANTIVIRAL EFFECT OF THE PREPARATION UKRAIN

LOZJUK R.M., LISNYAK O.I., LOZJUK LV.

Department of Pharmacology, Medical Institute, 69 Pekarska St., Lviv-10, Ukraine.

Address for reprints: Dr R.M. Lozjuk, Post Box 1358, Lviv-8, Ukraine.

Summary: The preparation Ukrain was studied in order to confirm its theoretically substantiated properties in comparison with amitozin as its structural and functional analogue, and two other functional analogues, namely methisazone (against herpesvirus and poxvirus) and remantadine (against grippevirus). The experiments were carried out on albino Swiss mice of either sex weighing initially 18-20 g. They were kept at room temperature (20-21°C) on a natural day-night cycle, were housed in groups of ten per cage and had free access to food and water. The Ukrain preparation's activity as concerns grippe virus of A type (England) 42/72 (H3N2) was determined in ovo and in vivo, the treatment beginning 2 h after infection. The control animals, infected by appropriate virus dose, were injected with placebo. For the activities of the remedies investigated, our estimate was based on the median duration of life in the mice of the subexperimental and control groups (duration of experiments 14 days), the degree of intensity of pulmonary tissue changes, and the difference in median HR titres. The totality of Chelidonium majus alkaloids, thiophosphamide (the alkalizing agent), the sum of alkaloids modified by thiotepa, and some other alkaloids as their alkalized derivatives, all showed a statistically reliable inhibiting effect. The most significant biological activity was demonstrated by Ukrain as concerns the models of viral processes, and by the sum of alkaloids and amitozin as concerns the models of associated infections. This coincides with the results of biological assessment of modified products (1,3,5) with metabolites, alkaloids in particular, or alkaline substances.