Prophlogistic Activity of Water-Soluble Polysaccharides from Dermatophytes in the Rat

Abstract

Water-soluble, non-nitrogenous polysaccharides isolated from dermatophytes were tested for prophlogistic activity in the rat. Unlike the type II galactomannans, glucan, mannan and type I galactomannans from various dermatophyte species induce a dose-related swelling of the paw, which follows the same time-course as the oedema caused by dextran. The effect of the dermatophyte polysaccharides can also be antagonized by aminopyrine, tripelennamine, BOL and methysergide. The demonstrable prophlogistic activity of the dermatophyte polysaccharides studies is therefore presumably due to liberation of serotonin and histamine.

The Pharmacological Activity of Tribenoside

“…Recent observations made in our labora tories show that another discrete pathological phenomenon occurring in adju vant arthritis is susceptible to the action of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents, including TBGF. It was found that endothelial cells are present in the blood (taken from the right atrium) of rats suffering from established adjuvant arthritis, and that TBGF administered orally in daily doses of 600 mg/kg on days 18-21 reduced the number of circulating endothelial cells to roughly the same extent as did phenylbutazone in a dose of 30 mg/kg (66).…”

“…Of even greater importance was the finding that venous segments from patients pretreated for 10 days with TBGF in daily doses of 800 mg were significantly less reactive to histamine than those taken from placebo-treated patients (64,65). …”