Non specific stimulation of immune defence as support of antimicrobial chemotherapy.

Experiments were performed investigating the actual role of Omnadin by itself or together with the bactericidal antibiotic Penicillin in therapy of infections. Mice were infected with a Staph. aureus strain exhibiting a very high resistance to penicillin. It could be shown that Omnadin, even when given alone and as single dose, improves bacterial defence. Together with penicillin, it increases the antibiotic effect considerably. Also in these experiments, Omnadin was given only once. Furthermore, it was examined whether this effect may be due to a stimulation of the immune system. The experiments showed that Omnadin enhances antibody production as demonstrated by the increased number of antibody forming cells. This effect concerns IgM- as well as IgG- antibodies. The observation that not only the IgM- but also the IgG- antibodies are increased early after immunization and application of Omnadin suggests also a possible acceleration of the switch from IgM- to IgG- production. In addition, a direct influence of Omnadin on different lymphocyte classes in vitro was assayed by evaluating the rate of transformation. It could be shown that T- and B-cells are activated. The therapeutic effect on Omnadin alone and particularly in combination with penicillin is therefore explained by its stimulating effect on the immune response.