Development and disappearance of tolerance to induction of interferon and tumor necrosis factor response in athletes treated with natural immunostimulant.

The effect of nonspecific immunostimulation was examined in 15 basketball players subjected to extensive physical effort. The Tołpa* Torf Preparation (TTP*), a natural immunostimulating drug, was applied orally, one 5 mg tablet daily, in two 21-day cycles, separated by 2-week hiatus. Blood samples were collected 4 times, after each of two TTP* cycles and after the first and second hiatus.

Interferon responses in schizophrenia and major depressive disorders.

The spontaneous and induced interferon (IFN) production in whole blood cultures was examined in 45 psychiatric inpatients and in 65 normal controls. Among inpatients there were 32 who were chronic schizophrenics (14 women, 18 men) and 13 who were severely depressed (11 women, 2 men). The analysis of the pooled results of assays in the heterogeneous population showed that leukocytes of the psychiatric patients produced significantly lower levels of IFN after stimulation with virus (NDV), lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and IFN spontaneously released without the inducers that control cells.

A method to assess the immunomodulating effects of the Tołpa Torf Preparation (TTP) by measuring the hyporeactivity to interferon induction and tumor necrosis factor response.

Tołpa Torf Preparation (TTP) is an immunomodulator which was found to be interferon (IFN) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inducer in human peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL). PBL cultures prepared from the blood of healthy volunteers taking 5 mg TTP tablet daily loose ability to respond to IFN induction by TTP, phytohemagglutinin (PHA) or lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The phenomenon of hyporeactivity or tolerance is characteristic of every IFN inducer described so far.

Effects of some lipophilic carboxylic acid on release of interferon gamma from the human peripheral blood leukocytes.

Lipophilic carboxylic acids and their salts were tested for the ability of interferon induction in the cultures of human peripheral blood leukocytes. Of 13 tested organic compounds, two were selected: decyl-malonic acid and sodium salt of octylmethane-tri-(2-oxabutanoic)acid--which stimulated the synthesis of low amounts of gamma interferon.

Influence of selected antibiotics on interferon synthesis.

This paper discusses the influence of antibiotics - penicillin, streptomycin and mitomycin C - on interferon synthesis in vivo and in vitro. None of the antibiotics investigated was interferon inducer either in the suspension of human leukocytes or in the culture of cutaneo-muscular tissue from human embryo (HAT), or in mouse organism. However, the in vitro experiments revealed inhibitory effect of streptomycin and mitomycin C on the production of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) - stimulated interferon.