THE NEW ANTIBIOTIC ERYTHRIN AND ITS APPLICATIONS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600400110-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 25, 2011
• Sequence Number: 110
• Publication Date: June 27, 1951
• Content Type: REPORT

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CLASSIFICATION coNFIDENTIAL
~;U11r~uCn ~ ~aL
CENTWLL. INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPORT
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR Iti-310 BROADCASTS CD f:0.
COUNTRY USSR
SUBJECT Scientific -Medical, antibiot.'~s
HOW
PUBLISHED Monthly periodical
WHERE
PUBLISHED Moscow
DATE
PUBLISHED Nov 1950
LANGUAGE Russian
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or m comrn a ut wrn ~o ra rrrrnwms rrrror a rre-
nwnr n ur. nrrorrrnor w rru rorr a rrooipnr.
DATE OF
INFORMATION 195
GATE DIST. p~ ~ Jun 1951
.:0. OF PAGES 3
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT N0.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
SOURCE Sovyetskaya Meditaina, Vol XIV, No ll, 1950, pp 1718.
i THE NEW ANTIBIOTIC "ER'Y'FID3I1~' AND ITS APPLICATIONS
Prof L. A. Zil'ber
Active Mem, Aced Med Sci USSS
When bacteria ~r a virus infect an organism, the infection is selective
with regard to the organ$ that are infected. The tissues of some organs re-
main untouched by the infection. This resistance moat be due to the presence
in such tissues of substances having the properties of antibiotics. This as-
sumption is confirmed by certain published data. Thus, Z. V. Ermol`ygve'su
experiments on diphtheria bacilli show that the morphology of bacteria grown
in the pulpe~'~up tissue of some organs is sharply changed. It is known that
Juices of the organism contain substances which have antibiotic properties
(lysozyme, bet~lysin}. I~onaikova, Urazova, and Azrakh isolated from the tis-
sues of the liver and placenta an antibiotically active substance which is
effective against the cocci group of bacteria.
After lengthy experiments, in the course of which L. M. Yakobson and I
investigated various animal tissues in regard to their content of antibiotic
substances, we finally found that erythrocytes may serve as a source for the
m^avgr'ation of an antibiotic substance which is extremely fictive against diph-
theria bacilli, staphylococci, and streptococci. In our work we umed the method
?for the preparation of gramicidin with modifications introduced by A. S. Kon-
nikoda< We named the substance we obtained, "erythrin."
Erythrin is a dark br~ra, almost black powder which 1s soluble in weak
alkalis and sodium citrate. As shown in experiments carried out by L. M: Ya-
kobson, very low concentrations of erythrin (down to 1:16,000) suppress tpe
gr~nrth of diphtheria bacilli cultures. Somewhat higher concentrations have
the same effect on strains of ataphylo~occi and s+xeptococci. The antibiotic
properties which are typi~sl for errthrin are conserved during many months when
'the preparation is kept.in a dry place. Up?to date, more than 2C0 eta?ai~,s, of
various types of diphtheria bacilli have been tested, most of them freahl3. iso-
lated, and not a Slagle one could be found which ass resistant to erythrin.
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'Ie.r;Y~ .~igr.ifi.rant acre the investigations by Yu. V. Solov'yeva, N. A. Krav-
?.:', a::n te~ '%.. Fc?iina, yho ::~as~bllcrFd the capacity of erythri.n to neutrel??
ize r..he dipntheria toxin wtaen it ie in direct contact with the latter. Th;?.y
also found that erythrin suppresses the formationoP c1p2~.le+cs'ia toxin by the
diphtheria bacilli. Insignificant concentrations of erythrin (0.1-0.3 mg in
100 cc) considerably reduce and totally stop the formation of toxin, while crn-?
c:entrations which are higher by a factor of several scores are necessary to
suppress propagation of the bacilli
Work by 'Yu. V~ Solov'yeva, N. A. Kravchenko, and B. 7. Zhiv demonstrated,
that the prenem:.e of baliva or pus does not interfere with the action of ery-
tbrin? E:~tenr~ive in?reatigationa on erythrin were carried out at the Leningrad
Institute imeni Pasteur by A. R. Konova. She submitted to investigation scores
of diphtheria culture! and a number oP series of erythrin and established the
b.igh sntibiGtic activity ~_' tL?e latter A.e far as the mechanism of this anti??
biotic. actf~>n i~ cancerned, L~ A. Popova demonstrated that erythrin suppresses
the action of dehydrogenasda in bacteria which are sensitive to it.
Lo M~ ~akobaon has teate3 erythrin .^n monkeys after infecting their eyes
with d.in_htheria. When the diseased r.ondition became pronounced, the eyes were
treated with erythrin~ Yu~ V~ S~lov'yeva has carried out analogous experiments
on the ryes of 3uinea piga? The reaul?e obtained in all. of these experiments.
scene ?x:rellent,. In almaat all cases the eyes were broug'.^.t back to a normal con-
dition by th.e spi,liration of erythri.na In the control guises pigs not treated
with eryt'~.~ir., the infection wi.t;". diphthi?ia resulted in destruction of the eye
in rxlmost every inotance, and half of th*: animals died from diphtheria.
Bucaure e_ytl~rin is a high~?molec~.ilsr substance which does not diffuse
~=gaily into 'the tiasuila, it was util.i.ze3 .chiefly for local applir_ation, i.e.,
fa^ trea?ing tha oral and ncso~r~ryn;c cavi+.y of diphtheria patients and cnr-
rie_a eP dip'!?+heria bacilli., During a m'mber of years trythrin wa.s thoroughly
inveatigsted at Frofe.aaor A? I. Dobrokhotova's clinic at the Pediatric Insti-
tute, Academy of Medical Sciences USSRo
Veya inveatlgated the scti.on rf erythrin on more than 300 patients. OP
t'ti:'se patients i~+ h~.d di.plitberla, of the pharynx, among them l~i of toxic types,
13~ nasal diphtheria, an3 2~, combined fnz?ma of the infection. All patients
r?r,ceived antidiphth>ria aFrum on the basis of the usual medical indications and,
in addition, ery+hrin,. Patients who received antidiphtheria serum only were
US~d 8S CUn L-r Oi.a~
Erythrin was fo',u?d to re3'.ice conaidarsbly the duration of the local in-
flammatory proceaa~ Ths ciesY?1ng of the pharynx, which was slow and gradual
in the control cases, ass~r3 a precipitate character wit;. erythrin. The lib-
era?ion of the pheryn:+r.fr^:m diphtheria bacilli was also considerably expedited.
Tn $ days 85~ of the patients were permanently freed from diphtheria bacilli.
To evaluate this figure one must reme?~ber that, according to Professor Molchan-
ov'a data, only '~ oP the patients art normally Freed from bacteria bacilli
wAth.in one wFek after rer_orery~ Aa mentioned above, The serum was auniiuiotc_e8
to the pat:ierts in accordance with their condition Whtn the quantity of serum
which. was admiui.stere3 to pati.ente treated with erythrin was computed and com-
pared with th~.t given to patients who wire not treated with ex?ythrin (the typt
of disease being tb.e same in tither case), it was Pound that the latter had re-
ceived two-tbrre t.finea more serum.
considerable amount ~_ data on the action of erythrin was also accumu-
lat+~~3 by M. M. BudzY~e at the Infectious Diseases Clinic of the Medical Faculty,
LTniversi.ty of Latvia, Thin author observed 307 patients, of whom 177 were
treated with eryturin ana 130 served as controls. Rapi~ disappearance of films
an3 of diphtheria. bacilli eras also observed here in the cage of patients treated
with; erythrin. Thus, in patients treated with erythrin during 8 drys, bacilli
coNF~DE~r~~~
y ;?
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CONFI?~NTI~~
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C~i~FIaEP~T~
were Pound only in 409 of the cases, while in the control group (patients
treated with serum only; 30~3`~ of the patients had diphtheria bacillia The
incidence of complications was three times lower in the group treated with
erythrino Good results on application of erythrin were also obtained by
Krechetova and otherse
Extensive work has also been done on the decontamination with erythrin
of diphtheria-bacillus carriersa Results obtained by Yakobson, Danilevich,
Kochetova, et ale, indicate that erythrin is undoubtedly effective in this
respecto These investigators foun3 that a 5-day treatment with erythrin de-
contaminated 55-759 of the bacillus carriers, a 15-day treatment decontami-
nated 75-9~, and that in the ma,jerity of cases the decontamination was last-
ing< These results were obtained under applicai;io. of Oe596 solutions of ery-
thrin, T,ately, a 5~ erythrin salve was introduced into practice and was '
found to be still more effective
Cne must emphasize that erythrin must be applied according t a precise
methods When a direct and sufficiently prolonged contact with the affected
tissue has been achie*.?ed, a positive effect is certain Difficulties arise
when the chronic inflammatory process in the nosopharynx prevents the substance
from penetrating into tissue folds which harbor diphtheria bacillia But even
in these neglected cases an effect can be achieved, particularly when an ery-
thrin salve is usedo
The Scientific Medical Council of the Ministry ci' Public Health USSR
gave exhaustive consideration to all then available results on erythria, both
positive and negative (the latter obtained by Titov), as early as 23 February
1948, and decided on the basis of clinical results that this substance must
be regarded as effective against diphtheriaa The council also decided that it
should be extensively introduced into medical practice for the local therapy
of diphtheria in conjunction with serum therapy as well as for the treatment
of diphtheria-bacillus carriers This decision was confirmed by Yea Ie Smirnov,
Minister of Public Health USSR
Thus, erythrin has been introduced into Soviet medicine after a thorough
inve.stigationo Instead of blindly searching for antibiotics in various sub-
trates, we ca_~ now systematically investigate tissues which are resistant to
definite bacteria and viruses It is covious now that c.ntibiotics contained
in various +,issues are one of the factors that pro~~ice immunitye If we learn
how to extract them from tiesue.a, our me3lcine will be enriched with new anti-
biotics