Increased Survivorship and Altered Cytokine Profile from Treatment of Influenza A H1N1-Infected Mice with Ekybion : A Drug Complex of Natural Extracts and Inorganic Compounds

Abstract EN

Ekybion is a drug complex of 16 natural extracts and inorganic compounds designed to treat a variety of respiratory pathogens of bacterial and viral origin.

It is licensed throughout Europe for the treatment of respiratory tract infections from equine parainfluenza type 3 and equine herpes virus type 1 in equine stables.

The purpose of this paper was to test the efficacy of Ekybion on a well-developed animal model of influenza A infection and determine a mode of action.

Experiments were performed with Balb/c mice infected with a lethal dose of influenza A/PR/8/34 H1N1 virus and treated with nebulized Ekybion every 8 h in a time-dependant or dose-dependant fashion.

These experiments showed that mice treated prior to infection with Ekybion had a higher survival rates (~46%) compared with untreated animals (~0%).

Paradoxically, these mice showed no significant difference in lung virus titer or weight loss.

There was, however, a decrease in the level of GM-CSF, IL-6, and G-CSF cytokines in the lungs of Ekybion-treated, infected mice.

It is possible that decreases in proinflammatory cytokines may have contributed to increased survivorship in Ekybion-treated influenza-infected mice.