Experimental tuberculosis of mice has been treated with schizophyllan alone and in combination with other antituberculosis drugs.
1) The intraperitoneal administration of 2.5-5.0 mg/kg single dose of schizophyllan every other day for 20 days proved to prolong the life-span of mice infected with
Mycobacterium tuberculosis KURONO or SCHACHT strain.
2) The combined therapy with schizophyllan and other antituberculosis drugs (streptomycin, ethambutol and rifampicin) was found to be much more effective than the monotherapy with schizophyllan or the other antituberculosis drug.
3) The histopathological tests of various organs of mice treated with schizophyllan, etalnbutol or schizophyllan-ethambutoclo mbinationw ere carried out. A large number of tubercles were formed and tubercle bacilli diffusely spread in the lung of control group. In the lung of schizophyllan-treated group, the formation of tubercle was few and tubercle bacilli were localized in epitheloid cells which proliferated papillarily in the alveoli; the focal proliferation of RE cells, in which tubercle bacillii were localized, was marked in spleen, liver and lymph nodes.
4) Although moderate activation of RE cells could be observed in ethambutol-treated group, the direct antibacterial effect of ethambutol appears to be highly potentiated in schizophyllan-ethambutol combination group by the strong nonspecific activation of RE cells by schizophyllan.
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