[The immunostimulating action of suramin in infection with the infectious rhinotracheitis virus]

The immunostimulating antiviral preparation suramin has a favourable effect on the process and outcome of an experimental infection with the virus of infectious rhinotracheitis (bovine herpes virus type 1, BHV1), thus reducing the gravity of the clinical course and increasing the survival rate. The therapeutic protective effect of the preparation is expressed in the prevention of virus-induced immunosuppression which is markedly strong during the acute phase of the infection process. Suramin restored the number, viability, relative share in the bronchial lavage population, phagocytic and microbicidal capacity of the alveolar macrophages--a major factor of the local defence mechanisms of the lung. In a similar way suramin influenced some parameters of the systemic immunity (number and differential count of polymorphonuclear phagocytes, plaque- and rosette-forming cells). The application of suramin in doses lower than those used for virus inhibition and its considerable action on different mechanisms of the immune system suggested that the preparation's therapeutic effect could be related mainly to its immunostimulating properties.