Sterodin®, a novel immunostimulating drug: Some toxicological and pharmacological evaluations in vivo, and drug-lipid interaction studies in vitro

Abstract

In immunotherapeutic research, over the last two decades, very intensive investigations were carried out of the preparation, experimental and clinical characteristics of a relatively new category of active substances, the so-called immunostimulants. They are products of natural or synthetic origin with different chemical characteristics and mechanisms of action (1). Such an immunostimulating drug is Sterodin ® . It is the proprietary name of the medicine produced from bile lipids and bacterial metabolites from Staphylococcus albus, Micrococcus catarrhal, E. coli, Paratyphoid A and B, Staphylococcus aureus, etc. Each strain has a definite number of cells in each mL of solution. Sterodin ® has been claimed to possess a non-specific immunopotentiating activity, particularly in infectious diseases. However, the mechanism of action and the exact parameters that are influenced by Sterodin ® are still unknown. Therefore, we performed some toxicological and pharmacological evaluations to get some basic data about Sterodin ® . Sterodin ® is a novel non-specific immunostimulating drug produced by a combination of bile lipids and bacterial metabolites. In the present study, we investigated some of its (i) toxicological and (ii) pharmacological properties in vivo, and (iii) drug-lipid interaction (lipid peroxidation) in vitro. We also evaluated the possible (iv) Sterodin ® -induced lipid peroxidation as well as the effect of ascorbic acid on this peroxidation. We found LD 50 of Sterodin ® to be 31.50 mL kg -1 body mass. In male albino mice, Sterodin ® increased the total white blood cells and neutrophils count by 59 and 26 %, respectively, on the 6 th day, compared to day 0 after injection and stimulated phagocytic activity in vivo. We used goat liver as lipid source in drug-lipid interaction studies in vitro. Our experiments show that Sterodin ® induces lipid peroxidation, which was prevented by ascorbic acid.

Cholesterol and Its Derivatives Reversibly Inhibit Proteinase K

“…It is our current interest to evaluate a nonspecific immunostimulatory drug (described later) that is composed of extracts from bacterial metabolites and bile lipid in terms of their active ingredients and mechanisms of action (Ray et al, ; Singh and Bhattacharyya, ). This drug can stabilize Proteinase K. Considering natural degradation of proteases by auto‐digestion in particular for those having broad specificity, reversible inactivation of Proteinase K is obligatory to maintain its activity (De et al, ; Sharma et al, ).…”

Evaluation of the presence of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate in bacterial metabolites used as immunostimulators and its role in nitric oxide induction

“…They induce immune stimulatory actions in humans that help to combat immune disorders . In India, an ether extract of metabolites of nine bacteria, namely ß‐streptococcus , Staphylococcus albus , Staphylococcus aureus , Escherichia coli , Haemophilus influenza , Moraxella catarrhalis , Salmonella typhi (standard O & H), Salmonella paratyphi (A & B), and Diptheroid bacilli, combined with bile lipids is marketed as Sterodin (Union Drug Co. Ltd., Kolkata, India) and has been licensed as an immunostimulatory preparation . According to several published studies, extracts from these bacterial species used individually or in different combinations have proved to be potent immune‐stimulators .…”