Comparative characteristics of the antitumor and immunodepressive activity of carminomycin on the L-1210 experimental model]

The antitumor activity of carminomycin was estimated by the number of lymphoma colonies formed in the spleen of DBA/2 mice on their inoculation with the bone marrow cells from mice with transplantable leukemia L-1210. The immunodepressive properties of carminomycin were determined by the number of the antibody forming cells in the spleen of CBA and DBA/2 mice with leukemia L-1210 after immunization with sheep red blood cells. It was found that in a single dose of 1.5 mg/kg carminomycin inhibited the lymphoma colonies by 50 per cent. The maximum immunodepressive effect was observed when carminomycin was used in a single dose of 1.5 mg/kg 48 hours after the antigen stimulation. In this case the number of the antibody forming cells in DBA/2 mice with leukemia L-1210 was lower than that in CBA mice without leukemia.     

Action of carminomycin on leukemic cell proliferation and some problems of its use in the combined therapy of leukemias

The effect of carminomycin on the mitotic cycle of the cells of the transplantable leukemia L-1210 and the therapeutic activity of other antitumor drugs, such as phopurine and cyclophosphane was studied on mice BDF1. It was found that the cells in phases S and G2 of the mitotic cycle were most sensitive to carminomycin. Transfer G1--S and phase G1 were characterized by resistance to the antibiotic effect. When carminomycin was used in combination with phopurine or cyclophosphane, clear dependence of the therapeutic efficacy on the treatment scheme was noted. Simultaneous administration of all the three drugs resulted in potentiation of the antileukemic effect. An analogous effect was observed when carminomycin was administered prior to phopurine or cyclophosphane. When the order of the drugs use was reverse, the efficacy of the combined therapy was significantly lower than the summation antileukemic effect of the drugs.     

Effect of the peroral use of the antitumor antibiotic, carminomycin, on the immunological reactivity of the body of animals]

Carminomycin administered orally to mice for many times in doses of 2.5 and 1.25 mg/kg induced suppression of hemagglutinine production to sheep erythrocytes and formation of immunologically competent cells in the spleen of test animals. The content of DNA and RNA in the spleen of the test animals treated with carminomycin and sheep erythrocytes was somewhat lower than that in the control mice immunized but not treated with the antibiotic. Carminomycin prolongated the life time of the skin graft by 6.5 days as compared to that of the skin homotransplant in the control animals. The oral use of carminomycin in a dose of 2.5 mg/kg induced a statistically significant decrease in the absorption capacity of the cells of the reticuloendothelial system of the animals.     

Study of toxicity and antineoplastic activity of 14-substituted derivatives of rubomycin and carminomycin

Toxicity and antitumor activity of five derivatives of rubomycin and carminomycin were studied in animals. The derivatives were prepared by modification of the methyl C-14 group. These were the following: 14-chlorrubomycin, 14-chlorcarminomycin, 14-salicyloyloxyrubomycin, 14-salicyloyloxycarminomycin and 14-quinaldinoyloxyrubomycin. The chemotherapeutic study revealed that, in their activity, all the compounds were inferior to the starting antibiotics. Unlike the other derivatives, 14-chlorcarminomycin induced a significant inhibition of leukemia P-388 development (the average lifespan of the mice amounted to 165 per cent as compared to the control). However, in the magnitude of its effect, the derivative was inferior to carminomycin.     

Synthesis and antitumor properties of carminomycin 13-cyclohexylidenhydrazone

Carminomycin 13-cyclohexylidenhydrazone (CCH) was prepared by interaction of carminomycin 13-hydrazone with cyclohexane. The antiblastomic properties of CCH were studied on mice with transplantable tumors. The preparation was administered intravenously or orally. The studies showed a high antitumor activity of CCH. When CCH was administered intravenously to mice with lymphosarcoma LIO-1, the antitumor effect selectivity of it was practically equal to that of carminomycin. When used in doses equivalent by their toxicity to those of carminomycin, CCH had practically the same inhibitory effect on sarcoma 180 as carminomycin. When used orally in doses equivalent by their toxicity to those of carminomycin, CCH was more effective than carminomycin in treatment of mice with lymphosarcoma LIO-1, sarcoma 180 and lymphadenosis NK/Ly.     

Semisynthetic derivatives of daunorubicin and carminomycin: inhibition of DNA synthesis after intravenous administration to mice

Inhibition of DNA synthesis in the liver, kidneys, spleen and heart of mice after intravenous administration of 0.1 and 0.3 LD50 of semisynthetic derivatives of rubomycin (daunorubicin) and carminomycin was studied. The level of DNA synthesis inhibition was estimated by a decrease in incorporation of (methyl-3H) thymidine. Under the action of 13-trebutoxycarbonyl hydrazone and 14-salicyloiloxy derivatives of rubomycin and carminomycin maximum inhibition of DNA synthesis was reached later while its recovery started earlier as compared to the initial antibiotics.     

Experience with using carminomycin in oncological clinical practice]

Carminomycin is an original antitumor antibiotic from the anthracycline group isolated at the Institute of New Antibiotics (USSR) in 1973. Pharmacological investigation of carminomycin revealed its satisfactory absorption from the gastrointestinal tract which proved to be a distinguishing property of the antibiotic as compared to other anthracyclines such as adriamycin and rubomycin. The clinical trials of carminomycin showed that it was mainly active against soft tissue sarcoma and breast cancer, lymphosarcoma, neuroblastoma, Wilms' tumor and Ewing's sarcoma in children, as well as acute leukemia. Various regimens for the antibiotic administration were applied: short-term, single and long-term. Suppression of hemopoiesis was considered as a limiting toxic effect. By the data available carminomycin had lower cardiotoxicity as compared with rubomycin and adriamycin. Development of oral carminomycin is believed promising.     

Antiviral action of carminomycin and some of its derivatives]

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 study of the effects of carminomycin 13-cyclohexylidenehydrazone and carminomycin on several immunologic responses of the body

The effect of carminomycin and 13-cyclohexylidenhydrazone of carminomycin (13-CHC) on some immunological reactions was studied comparatively on mice. It was shown that 13-CHC administered intravenously or orally had an immunodepressive effect on the synthesis of the antibodies to the sheep red blood cells. By the character of the immunodepressive effect on the humoral and transplantation immunity 13-CHC was close to carminomycin. It had an inhibitory effect on the transplantation immunity, prevented the mice from death in the "graft-versus-host" system and increased the life-span of the cutaneous flaps.     

Comparison of the action of carminomycin and rubomycin on the dynamics of the primary and secondary immune responses

The effect of rubomycin and carminomycin on the dynamics of the primary and secondary immune response and formation of the immunologic memory to sheep red cells in mice was studied. Differences in the character of the antibiotics effect indicative of the higher selective action of carminomycin on multiplying cells, precursors of the antibody-forming plasmids, were found. Theoretically interesting discrepancies in the effect of the antibiotics on the content of the antibodies in the serum and the antibody-producing cells in the spleen were shown. It was demonstrated that carminomycin had no effect on formation of the immunologic memory inspite of a noticeable decrease in the total number of the spleen nuclear cells and the number of the antibody-forming cells at the moment of immunization under the effect of the antibiotic.     

Comparison of the antitumor, immunodepressive and toxic properties of carminomycin-albumin complexes differing in carminomycin content

Bovine serum albumin (BSA) and carminomycin, an anthracycline antibiotic, were subjected to conjugation with glutaraldehyde and their complexes with various contents of the antibiotic were prepared. The molar ratios of carminomycin and BSA were 8:1, 4:1, and 2:1. The antitumor effect of the preparations was studied on the models of mouse transplantable lymphosarcoma LIO equal 1 and ascitic forms of mouse lymphadenosis NK/Ly in vivo and in vitro. Their immunodepressant effect was evaluated from the decrease in the hemagglutinin titers in the mice immunized with sheep red blood cells. It was shown that when the toxicity of the complexes was the same, their antitumor and immunodepressant activities were different. The therapeutic activity of carminomycin in the four- and eight-substituted complexes was much higher than that of carminomycin alone. It is suggested that the differences in the activity of the complexes were connected with differences in their pharmacokinetics. It was found that the chemotherapeutic properties of the complexes may have changed by variation of the number of the cytostatic residues in the albumin molecule. The findings indicate that the whole complex molecule interacts with the malignant cell and not carminomycin preliminarily detached from it.     

Suppression of DNA synthesis in mice by the anthracycline antibiotics daunorubicin, carminomycin and doxorubicin

Inhibition of DNA synthesis by rubomycin (daunorubicin), carminomycin and doxorubicin in the spleen, liver, kidneys and heart was studied on mice. The antibiotics were administered intravenously in a dose of 0.3 LD50. The inhibition level was estimated by incorporation of 3H-thymidine. The time courses of DNA synthesis inhibition by daunorubicin, carminomycin and doxorubicin markedly differed, whereas the patterns of their inhibition curves for all the organs were close. The maximum inhibition of DNA synthesis by carminomycin was observed in 6 hours. After that period it gradually restored. Doxorubicin induced the maximum inhibition of DNA synthesis in 24-48 hours after its administration. Daunorubicin induced two maxima in inhibition of DNA synthesis i. e. in 6 and 48 hours. Definite correlation between the levels of DNA synthesis inhibition by the antibiotics and their toxic action was shown.     

Synthesis and properties of the 14-amino derivatives of daunorubicin and carminomycin]

Interaction of 14-bromine derivatives of daunorubicin and carminomycin, as well as their aglycones with secondary amines, such as piperidine, N-methylpiperazine and morpholine was studied with a purpose of preparing new potentially antitumor antibiotics. It was found that reaction in acetone or dioxan at a temperature of 50--60 degrees C resulted in formation of 14-amino derivatives of the respective bromides. 14-Piperidinyl- and 14-(N-methylpiperazinyl)-daunorubicin, 14-piperidinyl-daunorubicinon and 14-piperidinyl-carminomycinon were prepared. The structure of the new substances was confirmed by the IR, UV and NMR spectra. The antimicrobial activity of 14-amino derivatives amounted to 10--35 per cent of the activity of the initial antibiotics, i.e. daunorubicin and carminomycin.     

Inhibition of synthesis of nucleic acids, proteins and respiration in isolated thymocytes by anthracyclines

The effect of anthracycline antibiotics such as carminomycin, daunomycin (rubomycin) and adriamycin on respiration and synthesis of nucleic acids and protein was studied comparatively. The anthracyclines inhibited the processes. By their efficacy in that respect they could be arranged in the following order: carminomycin greater than rubomycin greater than adriamycin. Thus, 50 per cent inhibition of nucleic acid synthesis in the thymocytes required 0.027, 0.044 and 0,173 mM of carminomycin, rubomycin and adriamycin respectively. Protein synthesis and respiration in the thymocytes were less sensitive to the effect of the anthracyclines than synthesis of nucleic acids. The study results were compared with the literature data on the effect of the compounds on respiration and synthesis of nucleic acids and protein in tumour and bacterial cells.     

Immobilization and properties of carminomycin 4-O-methyltranferase, the enzyme which catalyzes the final step in the biosynthesis of daunorubicin in Streptomyces peucetius

The carminomycin 4-O-methyltransferase enzyme from Streptomyces peucetius was covalently immobilized on 3M Emphaze ABI-activated beads. Optimal conditions of time, temperature, pH, ionic strength, enzyme, substrate (carminomycin), and cosubstrate (S-adenosyl-L-methionine) concentrations were defined for the immobilization reaction. Protein immobilization yield ranged from 52% to 60%. Including carminomycin during immobilization had a positive effect on the activity of the immobilized enzyme but a strongly negative effect on the coupling efficiency. The immobilized enzyme retained at least 57% of its maximum activity after storage at 4 degrees C for more than 4 months. The properties of the free and immobilized enzyme were compared to determine whether immobilization could alter enzyme activity. Both soluble and bound enzyme exhibited the same pH profile with an optimum near 8.0. Immobilization caused an approximately 50% decrease in the apparent K(m) (K'(m)) for carminomycin while the K'(m) for S-adenosyl-L-methionine was approximately doubled. A 57% decrease in the V(max) value occurred upon immobilization. These changes are discussed in terms of active site modifications as a consequence of the enzyme immobilization. This system has a potential use in bioreactors for improving the conversion of carminomycin to daunorubicin. (c) 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Acute toxicity of carminomycin administered perorally to laboratory animals

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.     

Effect of rubomycin and carminomycin on suppressor cells participating in the regulation of the immune response

The effect of rubomycin and carminomycin on induction of suppressor cells in immunization of mice with high doses (2 . 10(9) cells) of sheep red blood cells (SRBC) or with the allogeneic spleen cells was studied. When the spleen cells of syngeneic animals hyperimmunized with SRBC were administered to intact cells, a marked specific suppression of both the antibody formation and the reaction of the delayed type hypersensitivity were observed. A decrease in the suppressor activity or its complete elimination as a result of exposure of the spleen cell donors to the antibiotics was indicative of a relatively selective effect of these drugs on the suppressor cells. This effect of the antibiotics increased after treatment of the spleen immune cells with the anti-T-serum and complement. However, the blocking effect of the antibiotics on the suppressor cells was not strictly specific, since they were detected in the syngeneic and allogenic systems with the cell transfer.     

Rapid change in the dynamics of antibody-forming cells under the influence of a single injection of various anthracyclines

The dynamics of the titers and number of the antibody forming cells was studied within 26 hours after a single injection of anthracycline to immunized animals at various phases of the immune response. The specificity of the "rapid" effect of anthracyclines suggests that the low differentiated precursors of the antibody forming cells are the main target for the rubomycin effect and the immune competent cells in the state of multiplication and differentiation under the effect of the antigen are the main target for the carminomycin effect. The study was performed with noninbred mice immunized with sheep red cells.     

Pathomorphological picture of the testes of mice administered antitumor antibiotics and their comparative evaluation

A single administration of the LD50 of bruneomycin, carminomycin, rubomycin or olivomycin and the use of the antibiotics for 10 days in a dose 2 times higher than the therapeutic one and amounting to 10 per cent of the LD50 induced dystrophic and destructive changes in the sexual glands of mice. The changes in the testis were more pronounced after the single use of the antibiotics. Recovery processes were observed in the testis beginning from the middle of the third week after the use of carminomycin and rubomycin and from the end of the second week after the use of olivomycin. Bruneomycin was an exception: the pronounced destructive changes in the sexual glands after its single or repeated use persisted within the observation period.     

Anthracycline antibiotic, beromycin. The formation of complexes with DNA and the suppresion of nucleic acid biosynthesis]

Beromycin, an antitumor anthracycline antibiotic formed in vitro complexes with native and denaturated DNA and ribosomal RNA. Beromycin had a comparatively low constant of DNA binding and to a less extent increased the melting temperature and viscosity of DNA than the other anthracycline antibiotics. A peculiar property of beromycin was very slow binding with DNA, the complex formation was completed in 60 minutes. Beromycin had a selective inhibitory effect on synthesis of nucleic acids in bacterial and tumor cells. Beromycin inhibited synthesis of RNA in the DNA-dependent RNA-polymerase reaction when both the native and denaturated DNA were used as the template. A lower biological activity of beromycin as compared to the other anthracycline antibiotics, such as rubomycin or carminomycin may be explained by lower affinity of this antibiotic to DNA.