Carminomycin was shown to inhibit the development of both the DNA-containing variolovaccine virus and the RNA-containing grippe virus in chick embryos. Comparison of the effects of rubomycin, carminomycin, 14-oxy-carminomycin and carminomycin complex with bovine serum albumin in experiments with chick embryos showed that the inhibitory effect of carminomycin and its derivatives on the development of the grippe virus was much higher than that of rubomycin. The carminomycin derivatives proved to be much more active in this respect than the initial antibiotic. Carminomycin and its derivatives had a therapeutic effect on mice with experimental grippe pneumonia also on their oral use.

Comparative histological investigation of the toxic effect of carminomycin and rubomycin on the myocardium was carried out on mice BDF. It was found that the level of the morphological changes in the heart muscle depended on the antibiotic dose. The cardiotoxic effect of carminomycin was less pronounced than that of rubomycin.

An abscess in the region of pons varolii in a male 69 years of age with the erythrodermic form of mycosis fungoides is described. It is presumed that the source of the purulent infection were small skin excoriations from scratches due to excruciating skin itch. Long-term cytostatic and immunodepressant therapy promoted generalization of the infection and formation of the cerebral abscess.

Anthracycline antibiotics rubomycin (daunomycin) and carminomycin rapidly accumulated in the bacterial and ascitic tumor cells and their intracellular concentrations significantly exceeded the concentrations in the medium. The strains of Staph. aureus and Fisher mouse ascitic lymphadenosis L-5178/P resistant to rubomycin preserved sensitivity to carminomycin. The resistance of the bacterial and tumor strains to rubomycin was accompanied by a significant decrease in the accumulation of rubomycin in the cells. At the same time carminomycin also effectively accumulated in the cells of Staph. aureus and Fisher ascitic lymphadenosis adapted to rubomycin, the same as in the cells of the parent strains.

Carminomycin chemotherapy of the patients with malignant tumors is often complicated with cardiopathy which is sometimes assymptomic and registered only electrocardiographycally. Chemotherapy on the background of reparative regeneration stimulators from the series of synthetic pyrrimidine derivatives, such as methyluracyl for oral use and a soluble salt of methyluracyl for parenteral administration significantly decreased the rate of the cardiotoxic complications and promoted a decrease in their level. The use of methyluracyl and its soluble salt did not decrease the therapeutic effect of carminomycin. Methyluracyl and its soluble salt may be recommended for prophylaxis of cardiotoxic complications in chemotherapy of malignant tumors with carminomycin.

Sibiromycin added to linear chromosomal E. coli DNA in vitro leads to the decrease of bouyant density in neutral CsCl density gradient. This decrease is a linear function of sibiromycin/DNA ratio and amounts to about 32 mg/ml at the ratio equal to 0.1. Binding sibiromycin does not change the degree of hydration of DNA as revealed by centrifugation in metrizamide density gradients. When added to the covalently closed or open circular DNA of PM-2 phage, sibiromycin decreased the bouyant density of these DNA species to a similiar extent. The antibiotic does not induce single-strand breaks in DNA in vitro as follows from the results of ethidium bromide-CsCl density gradient centrifugation of covalently closed PM-2 DNA.

A comparative mutagenic effect of karminomycin and rubomycin in LD50 on the cells of the rat bone marrow (71 animals) was studied. It was found that karminomycin had a higher and more prolonged mutagenic effect than rubomycin. Both antibiotics induced mainly chromatin deletions and not so frequent reconstructions. They are probably identical with respect to their mechanism of action on chromosomes.

The state of the steroidogenic function of the adrenal glands, lipid spectrum of the adrenal gland tissue and metabolism rate of 11-oxycorticosteroids (11-OCS) in the liver tissue and their levels in the blood plasma were studied on rats after a single administration of karminomycin in a dose of LD50 (1.55 mg/kg). The hormones of the adrenal cortex were shown to play a definite role in the mechanism of the karminomycin damaging effect. Dependence of the changes on the time of the drug effect was noted. The shifts were of a reversible character. No direct toxic damages in the tissue of the adrenal glands were observed. Only an increase in the 11-OCS blood levels and a decrease in the steroid metabolism in the liver tissue were shown. The latter must be due to the direct cytotoxic effect of karminomycin on the tissue of this organ.

Rather high species sensitivity to carminomycin was found in the experiment with albino mice, rats, guinea pigs, rabbits and dogs. The highest difference in the antibiotic toxicity for various species of the laboratory animals was shown on oral administration of the drug which was due to the differences in the antibiotic absorption from the gastro-intestinal tract. On single oral administration to the dogs in toxic or lethal doses the antibiotic suppressed the blood formation up to aplasia of the bone marrow. The equitoxic doses of carminomycin on its single oral and intravenous administration differed approximately by 3 times. Carminomycin had no effect on the smooth muscles of the isolated rabbit ear vessels and cat intestine in situ. The antibiotic had an irritating effect on the rabbit eye mucosa. Carminomycin had no skin-irritating effect.

The effect of antitumour antibiotics, such as rubomycin and karminomycin on the digestive tract as one of the most vulnerable systems during chemotherapy was studied. Investigation of the tongue, oesophagus, stomach, small and large intestine of mice with the current morphological and some histochemical methods showed that the most pronounced changes in the above organs occurred during the first 10 days after the drug administration. The damages were of the same type, i.e. dystrophic changes in the tegmental and granular epithelium with edema and infiltration of the mucosa and tunica submucosa. The drugs induced a decrease in the levels of the nucleic acids, protein and hydrolytic enzymes and impairement of the distribution pattern of these substances in the cells. Karminomycin had a more pronounced effect and its damaging effect was more stable as compared to rubomycin.

The lysozyme activity in the spleen, kidneys and lungs of the mice treated with neocid, sarcolysine or Tio-Fef in therapeutic doses increased or remained at the control level by the 5th or 10th day after the drug administration. The use of sarcolysine per se or in combination with neocid increased the activity of lysozyme in the spleen, kidneys and lungs during the whole period of the experiment as compared to the control. The values of the lysozyme activity in the spleen and lungs of the animals treated with neocid in combination with sarcolysine were higher for 5 days, and in all organs examined were higher by the 10the day as compared to the animals treated with neocid alone. Increased lysozyme activity in the spleen, kidneys and lungs was observed under the effect of neocid in combination with sarcolysine as compared to the lysozyme activity in mice treated with sarcolysine per se (assay on the 10th day). Decreased lysozyme activity was determined in the spleen, kidneys and lungs by the 5th day and in the kidneys by the 10th day in the mice treated with sarcolysine in combination with Tio-Tel and in the spleen and lungs by the 5th and 10th days in the animals treated with neocid in combination with sarcolysine or Tio-Tef as compared to the animals treated with sarcolysine. The lysozyme activity in the kidneys under the effect of sarcolysine combination with Tio-Tef was lower by the 5th days and higher by the 10th day as compared to that under the effect of Tio-Tef.

The experiments on albino mice treated with rubomycin, carminomycin or dihydrocarminomycin on its 5-fold intravenous administration in doses equal to similar portions of LD50 of the respective antibiotic on its use in a single dose showed that all the 3 antibiotics induced changes in the myocardium close by their character. The heart affections were evident from swelling of separate muscle fibers, degeneration of the myofibrils, homogenization, vacuolization and resorption of the sarcoplasma, pathological changes in the nuclei, atrophy of some muscle fibers. Rubomycin had the highest cardiotoxic effect. Then followed dihydrocarminomycin and carminomycin. All the antibiotics studied in the experiments with mice had mainly an inhibitory effect on the lymphoid hemopoiesis. The effect of carminomycin was the highest. The animal death during the injections and immediately after administrations of the antibiotics must be due to their suppressing effect on hemopoiesis. The deaths at more remoted periods must be due to the cardiotoxic effect of the antibiotics.