[Estimation of the efficacy of screened natural hypolipidemic compounds in a model of rabbit hypercholesterolemia].

Thirteen strains producing hydrophobic compounds with high hypolipidemic activity were screened among 657 tested strains of fungi, actinomycetes and bacteria with the use of 2 models. The further aim of the study was to estimate the efficacy of the compounds with respect to their ability to inhibit cholesterol synthesis in vivo. For that purpose a model of hyperlipidemia in rabbits was used.

[Screening of natural compounds with hypolipidemic activity].

In the screening programme for natural hypolipidemic compounds 702 strains of soil microorganisms were tested and 25 of them were selected because of their ability to produce compounds inhibiting sterol synthesis in Hep G2 hepatoma cells. The compounds were estimated in the microbiological model with Tolypocladium inflatum 106 as the test microbe. The 2nd stage of the screening resulted in isolation of 13 strains producing compounds with high hypolipidemic activity, analogous to or higher than the activity of lovastatin in the experimental models.

[Antimicrobial activity of natural hypolipidemic compounds].

Antibiotic activity of complex agents of actinomycete and fungal origin was studied in the programme of screening organisms producing substances with hypolipidemic activity. The majority of the agents were shown to be active against Aspergillus niger 137a and Candida albicans ATCC 885-653. Some of the agents were active against bacteria, including acid-fast ones.

[Lovastatin effect on ergosterol production and growth of Tolypocladium inflatum 106].

The effect of lovastatin on Tolypocladium inflatum 106 was studied. The strain was shown to be highly sensitive to lovastatin when its MIC was determined by the agar diffusion method and under submerged conditions that was considered possible to use the strain as a test culture in screening of new natural compounds with hypolipidemic action and to study its specificity. It was demonstrated that the effect of lovastatin on ergosterol synthesis in T.

[Effect of novel natural hypolipidemic compounds on human immunodeficiency virus].

Target screening among microbial products resulted in isolation of hypolipidemic compounds tested for activity against HIV in culture of transferable lymphoblastoid cells MT-4. The majority of the compounds showed antiviral activity. The highest antiviral effect was observed when before exposure to the virus the cells were preincubated for 1 hour in the presence of the isolated compounds.

[Screening of natural immunosuppressors by their ability to modify steroid synthesis in hepatocytes].

In the programme for screening sterol synthesis inhibitors with the use of actinomycetes and fungi 702 strains were tested. The effect of alcohol extracts of the mycelium of fungi and actinomycetes at a dilution of 1/10(3) on sterol synthesis by the Hep G2 hepatome cells was determined by incorporation of 3H acetate into sterols and proteins. Lovastatin (200 pg/ml) was used as the control: the sterol synthesis was decreased by 49 +/- 4% without inhibiting the protein synthesis.