Study of the Protective Activity of Thymogen® Dosed Nasal Spray on a Model of Experimental Influenza Pneumonia in Laboratory Animals

Abstract

Introduction. Due to the ability of the influenza virus to mutate, it is necessary to constantly search for new drugs with preventive and direct antiviral effects.The aim of the study is to investigate the protective antiviral properties of the drug Thymogen®, a dosed nasal spray, on a model of lethal influenza pneumonia in laboratory animals.Material and methods. White mature mice were selected for the experiment on the antiviral activity of the tested drug samples against H1N1 influenza virus; the mice were divided into the following groups (30 animals each): two negative control groups; two groups receiving Thymogen®, a dosed nasal spray (before and after infection); one group of animals received Tamiflu®, and one received Hexoral®. The mortality of animals with influenza pneumonia was assessed; histological and morphometric analyses were also carried out.Results and discussion. The morphological picture of the lungs of animals correlated with their protective activity when analyzing the survival of animals. The normalization of tissue structure was pronounced the most in the group of animals infected with the virus, pre-incubated with Thymogen®, a dosed nasal spray, and in the group receiving Tamiflu®. Moreover, the viral load in the lungs was lower by 1.5 and 1.2 orders of magnitude in the group receiving Thymogen®, dosed nasal spray, compared to the negative control group (the 3rd and the 6th days of the experiment, respectively), which corresponds to a decrease in the intensity of viral reproduction by 31.6 and 15.8 times