[Chemotherapeutic effectiveness of antibiotics in combination with papain in experimental septicemia]

The efficacy of papain, a proteolytic enzyme made in the USSR, was studied alone and in combination with antibiotics, such as benzylpenicillin, streptomycin, chloramphenicol, tetracycline, erythromycin and novobiocin in treatment of mice with septicemia caused by antibiotic-resistant staphylococci. It was shown that the enzyme increased the chemotherapeutic efficacy of the antibiotics on the average by 50 per cent. When used alone in a dose of 0.1 mg per mouse papain prevented death in 20 per cent of animals. The high chemotherapeutic efficacy of the antibiotic combinations with papain allowed recommending it for use in clinical practice for the treatment of infections caused by antibiotic-resistant staphylococci.